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Free tool

Making Tax Digital readiness checker

The MTD readiness checker is a free tool that tells you whether Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you, which date you are caught from, and what your deadlines will be. Enter how you trade and your gross income, and get your start date, your four quarterly deadlines and a calendar file to keep them in front of you.

Use gross figures: money in, before you take off any expenses, allowances or CIS deductions. That is what HMRC calls qualifying income. Wages from a PAYE job, dividends and pensions are not counted. Everything is worked out in your browser, so nothing is sent or saved.

This is a guide to dates and scope, not tax advice, and it does not file anything with HMRC. Thresholds are tested against one specific tax year each, so if your income moved a lot between years, check each year separately on GOV.UK. Exemptions exist, including for the digitally excluded.

How the thresholds work

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is being phased in by income, in three waves. Each threshold is tested against one specific tax year, not simply against last year, which is the detail most people miss. HMRC looks at the return for that year and writes to you if you are caught, but the responsibility to check is yours whether or not a letter arrives.

Qualifying income overIn the tax yearYou must start
£50,0002024 to 20256 April 2026
£30,0002025 to 20266 April 2027
£20,0002026 to 20276 April 2028

What counts as qualifying income

Qualifying income is your gross income from self-employment and property, added together, before any expenses or allowances are taken off. HMRC also calls this turnover. A plumber turning over £38,000 with £14,000 of van, tools and materials costs has £38,000 of qualifying income, not £24,000 of profit.

Income that does not count: wages from a PAYE job, dividends, savings interest, the State Pension, private pensions, and your share of profit from a partnership. If you run two trades, or a trade and a rental, the figures are added together and tested as one.

Five filings a year, not one

Once you are in, you send four quarterly updates through the year and still submit one tax return at the end of it. The updates are summaries of your income and expenses, not tax returns. Their deadlines are fixed at 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and the tax return is due by the following 31 January.

The quarterly updates are cumulative. Each one covers the tax year from its start to the end of that quarter rather than only the last three months, so a mistake in an earlier quarter is corrected in your records and carried into the next update. You do not have to resend the earlier one.

For the detail behind each of those, read the quarterly update deadlines and what happens if you miss one, what digital records you actually have to keep and, if you subcontract, how CIS deductions interact with your qualifying income.

Questions

Do I need Making Tax Digital if I earn £35,000?

On £35,000 of gross self-employment or property income you are caught by the £30,000 threshold, which is tested against your 2025 to 2026 tax year. You must start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027. Note that the figure tested is turnover before expenses, not profit, so a £35,000 turnover with £12,000 of costs still counts as £35,000.

Does Making Tax Digital really mean five filings a year?

Yes. Four quarterly updates through the year, plus one tax return at the end of it, due by the following 31 January. The updates are summaries, not tax returns, and they are cumulative: each covers the tax year to date. A mistake in an earlier quarter is corrected in your records and carried into the next update, without resending the earlier one.

What are the quarterly update deadlines?

7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. The standard periods they cover end on 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April. You can elect to use calendar quarters ending on month ends instead, but the four filing deadlines stay the same.

Does my PAYE job count towards the threshold?

No. Qualifying income is gross income from self-employment and property only. Wages from employment, dividends, savings interest, the State Pension and private pensions are all excluded, as is your share of profit from a partnership. If you have a PAYE job alongside a trade, only the trade counts towards the threshold.

I am a CIS subcontractor. Do I use my invoice total or what I was actually paid?

Use the gross figure, before the contractor's CIS deduction. Qualifying income is turnover before any deduction, so a £40,000 year with 20% deducted at source is £40,000 of qualifying income, not £32,000. The deductions you have suffered are reported separately and set against your final bill.

Is anything I type here stored?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Your income figures are never sent to a server or saved anywhere, and the calendar file is generated on your own device.

Dates and thresholds checked against GOV.UK guidance on 11 September 2026. This tool is a planning aid, not tax advice, and Manifold does not file on your behalf. Exemptions exist, including for the digitally excluded. Check your own position on GOV.UK.

Sources

Five filings a year needs the numbers already sorted.

Manifold keeps the job, the certificate and the invoice in one place, with CIS worked out on every invoice as you raise it. In early access for UK gas engineers.

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