Taxpayers who were required to join Making Tax Digital for income tax (MTD) from April 2026 but have not done so will be signed up automatically.
Starting from September 2026, HMRC will use information it holds to identify and register taxpayers it believes to be in scope for MTD for 2026-27.
Once registered, the individual will receive a letter or digital message with details of the steps they need to take to comply with the rules.
Where a taxpayer’s circumstances have changed, the data held by HMRC might not reflect that change. To address this, if a taxpayer is registered by HMRC they will be asked to carry out an additional ‘checking step’ to confirm whether HMRC’s records are up to date. For example, if your business had ceased by 6 April 2026, but HMRC believes you should be mandated based on your 2024-25 tax return, you can let HMRC know during the checking step.
To avoid such confusion, we strongly recommend that taxpayers sign up voluntarily before they are automatically enrolled by HMRC.
Automatic registration only applies to those who are mandated to join MTD for the 2026-27 tax year. If your combined self-employment and/or property income is over £30,000 on the 2025-26 tax return, unless you are exempt, you will be mandated for MTD from April 2027. For income over £20,000 mandation will start from April 2028. HMRC has not announced any plans to register these groups so taxpayers will need to sign up themselves.
Letters are being sent directly to taxpayers who have been registered by HMRC and agents are not copied in. If you receive such a letter please contact your usual Hillier Hopkins contact and share it with us so we can walk you through the steps needed.
