When does Making Tax Digital start for people earning over £20,000?

From 6 April 2028, if your self-employment and property income in the 2026–27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) is over £20,000 before expenses.

Does my salary count towards the Making Tax Digital threshold?

No. HMRC looks at your qualifying income, which is your income from self-employment and property added together. Wages taxed through PAYE, pensions and dividends are left out.

Is the £30,000 threshold based on turnover or profit?

Turnover. Qualifying income is your income before any expenses are taken off, so a delivery driver with £32,000 of fares and £15,000 of costs is still over £30,000.

What do I have to do if Making Tax Digital applies to me?

Keep digital records in software that works with Making Tax Digital, send HMRC a short summary of your income and expenses every quarter, and submit your end-of-year return from the same software by 31 January after the tax year ends.

Hamster blog

Does Making Tax Digital apply to my side hustle?

Published 5 October 2026 · Figures are for the 2026–27 tax year

The short answer

Only if your self-employment and property income, before expenses, is over the threshold. Your wages from a job do not count. From 6 April 2026 the threshold is £50,000, from 6 April 2027 it is £30,000 and from 6 April 2028 it is £20,000. HMRC decides using your Self Assessment return from two tax years before, so the 2025–26 return you file by 31 January 2027 decides whether you start in April 2027.

What Making Tax Digital changes

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax replaces the once-a-year scramble with little-and-often record keeping. If it applies to you, you:

keep your income and expense records digitally, in software that works with Making Tax Digital
send HMRC a quarterly update with the totals for each category, not every transaction
submit your tax return from the same software by 31 January after the tax year ends

The quarterly deadlines in the 2026–27 tax year are 7 August 2026, 7 November 2026, 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027. Each update covers the tax year so far, not just the last three months.

It does not change how much tax you pay. The rates, allowances and payment deadlines are the same.

The thresholds and dates

HMRC is bringing people in over three years, based on their qualifying income:

Over £50,000: must use it from 6 April 2026, judged on your 2024–25 return
Over £30,000: must use it from 6 April 2027, judged on your 2025–26 return
Over £20,000: must use it from 6 April 2028, judged on your 2026–27 return

So the return you are filing this winter, for 2025–26, is the one that decides whether you join in April 2027.

The £20,000 tier: April 2028

The £20,000 threshold is the one that reaches ordinary side hustlers. It is judged on the current tax year, 2026–27, which runs until 5 April 2027. Whatever you turn over between now and then decides whether you need Making Tax Digital software from 6 April 2028.

That is roughly £385 a week of sales or fares, before costs. A busy reselling side hustle, a few evenings of delivery work a week or a steady stream of freelance jobs can get there.

What counts as qualifying income

Qualifying income is your self-employment income plus your property income, added together, before expenses. Three things follow from that:

Your job does not count. Wages taxed through PAYE, pensions and dividends are left out. Someone earning £60,000 from a salary with a £6,000 side hustle has qualifying income of £6,000.
It is turnover, not profit. A delivery driver taking £32,000 in fares with £15,000 of fuel and running costs has £32,000 of qualifying income, not £17,000.
Side hustles add up. Etsy sales, freelance design work and a rented-out room all go into the same total.

Two examples

Priya earns £35,000 as a teacher and sells £8,000 of prints on Etsy. Her qualifying income is £8,000, so Making Tax Digital will not apply to her in 2027 or 2028.

Tom drives full time for Uber and Bolt and took £31,500 in fares in 2025–26. That is over £30,000, so he needs Making Tax Digital software from 6 April 2027, even though his profit after costs is much lower.

Aisha works full time on £40,000 and flips trainers on eBay and Vinted. She is on course for £22,000 of sales in 2026–27, with £16,000 of stock and fees. Her salary is ignored, but her sales are over £20,000, so she would need Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2028, even though her profit is only £6,000.

Why it matters even if you are below the line

The threshold falling to £20,000 in 2028 brings in a lot of full-time gig workers and bigger reselling or crafting side hustles. If you are growing, it is worth knowing your turnover month by month rather than finding out in January.

Getting into the habit now also makes the ordinary annual return easier. The people who find Self Assessment hardest are usually the ones rebuilding a year of sales and receipts from bank statements in one sitting.

If you think it applies to you

Check your figures on your 2025–26 return before you file. The turnover box is what HMRC uses.
Watch for a letter. HMRC writes to people it thinks need to sign up, but you are responsible for checking even if one does not arrive.
Choose software from HMRC's list of compatible products.
Ask about an exemption if you are digitally excluded and cannot reasonably use software. If you are exempt you keep filing a normal Self Assessment return.

Under the threshold, nothing changes. You still need to register for Self Assessment once your side-hustle income is over the £1,000 trading allowance, and file a return each year.

Keeping track

The question Making Tax Digital asks is simple: how much did you turn over this year? Hamster is a free Android app that keeps that total as you log each sale or job. Its Making Tax Digital insight compares what you have logged with the £30,000 and £20,000 thresholds and tells you if you are on course to be brought in, so you can see it coming well before HMRC's letter.

Quick answers

Does Making Tax Digital apply to my side hustle?: Only if your gross self-employment and property income is over the threshold: £50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Income from a job does not count, so most side hustles alongside employment are well below it.
When does Making Tax Digital start for people earning over £20,000?: From 6 April 2028, if your self-employment and property income in the 2026–27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) is over £20,000 before expenses.
Does my salary count towards the Making Tax Digital threshold?: No. HMRC looks at your qualifying income, which is your income from self-employment and property added together. Wages taxed through PAYE, pensions and dividends are left out.
Is the £30,000 threshold based on turnover or profit?: Turnover. Qualifying income is your income before any expenses are taken off, so a delivery driver with £32,000 of fares and £15,000 of costs is still over £30,000.
What do I have to do if Making Tax Digital applies to me?: Keep digital records in software that works with Making Tax Digital, send HMRC a short summary of your income and expenses every quarter, and submit your end-of-year return from the same software by 31 January after the tax year ends.

Sources

This is general information, not personal tax advice. Rules and rates change — check the linked GOV.UK pages or speak to an accountant about your own situation.