United Kingdom
Making Tax Digital is measured on your gross, not your payout
Most platform earners and landlords judge whether MTD applies to them using the money that reached their bank. HMRC uses the figure before the platform took its cut, and adds your property and self-employment income together.
Two rules catch people out
Qualifying income is gross. HMRC describes it as your total income from self-employment and property, before expenses, also known as turnover. Not profit. An Etsy shop turning over £55,000 that nets £28,000 after fees, postage and stock is measured at £55,000.
Self-employment and property are added together. HMRC's own example is £25,000 of rental income plus £27,000 of self-employment income, giving qualifying income of £52,000. Neither figure alone is close to the threshold. Combined, they cross it.
When it starts for you
MTD for Income Tax is arriving in three waves. Each wave lowers the qualifying income threshold.
Over £50,000
The first group. If your combined gross self-employment and property income on your 2024 to 2025 tax return was over £50,000, you are in from this date.
Over £30,000
The second group, and a much larger one, measured on your 2025 to 2026 tax return. Most full-time platform earners sit here.
Over £20,000
The third group, measured on your 2026 to 2027 tax return. At this level a serious side income is enough to bring you in.
Not sure which wave you are in? Run the free Making Tax Digital checker — it works on the combined gross figure, not on your payouts.
What it asks of you
Three things, through the year. The tax is worked out the same way as now; what changes is how often HMRC sees your figures.
1 · As you go
Keep digital records
Every item of self-employment and property income and expense, each with its amount, date and category. Rent and repairs count, as well as platform payouts and fees.
2 · Every quarter
Send a quarterly update
Each update covers the tax year from 6 April to the end of the period, not just the last three months.
3 · After the year
Submit your tax return
By 31 January after the tax year ends, adding any other income such as employment, pensions, savings interest or dividends.
| Each update covers | Due by |
|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July | 7 August |
| 6 April to 5 October | 7 November |
| 6 April to 5 January | 7 February |
| 6 April to 5 April | 7 May |
Which of these are you?
Qualifying income adds your self-employment and property together. Which parts you have decides how easy it is to misjudge.
Platform and gig income only
Driving, delivery, freelancing, creating, selling. One threshold, but the gross is spread across every platform you use and each one pays you net of its own fee. Your bank shows the payouts; HMRC counts what the customer was charged.
Property only
Rent counts before mortgage interest, agent fees and maintenance. A portfolio grossing well above the threshold can net a fraction of it and still bring you into MTD. Dividends and partnership profit shares are excluded, so a property business run through a limited company is treated differently.
Most likely to be caught unaware
Platform income and property
The landlord with a YouTube channel about property. The host who freelances. The seller with a flat let out. Each income on its own sits comfortably under the threshold, so the assumption is that MTD does not apply. Added together it often does, and this is the hardest case to spot because a property tool never sees the channel and a creator tool never sees the rent.
Platform income, property, and other self-employment
Consulting or client work billed directly, on top of platform earnings and rent. Three streams, three record-keeping habits, and one combined figure HMRC measures you against. This composition crosses the threshold soonest and is the most work to evidence, because only the platform income arrives with a statement attached.
What does not count towards the threshold
Employment income taxed through PAYE, your share of partnership profit, dividends including those from your own company, and the State Pension or private pensions. Only self-employment and property count. A spreadsheet can still hold your records, but only if it is linked to bridging software that sends the quarterly updates, and it has to be kept up as you go rather than rebuilt at year end. Why the spreadsheet breaks first.
Where we fit
The hard part of MTD for platform earners is not the filing. It is knowing your gross in the first place. Platforms pay you net, with their fee already removed, so the number in your bank is not the number HMRC measures you against. If you earn across several platforms, and in more than one currency, nothing shows you the combined figure.
The Income Tracker consolidates income from 145+ platforms, separates the platform fee from the gross, converts other currencies, and keeps that record as you earn rather than reconstructing it in January. You can see what a single platform is really paying you with the free Take Home Pay Calculator, and compare platform fees across platforms with the Platform Fee Comparison.
Each record holds the amount, the date and a category, the three things HMRC asks of a digital record. On the Tax & Compliance Suite, the Tax Estimate tab shows every quarter's income and expenses beside the tax year to date, which is the figure an update sends, with the date that update is due.
PlatformTaxHub prepares and estimates your figures. It does not file returns and is not HMRC-recognised MTD filing software. For the full rules, and to confirm anything on this page, see HMRC's guidance on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
Find out where you stand
Two questions, in order. Does MTD apply to you, and from when — the checker answers that on your combined gross. And what is your gross in the first place, if all you have ever seen is what the platforms paid you — the Take Home Pay Calculator works backwards from a payout to the figure behind it. Both free, no signup.
Questions about Making Tax Digital
Yes, if their qualifying income is over the threshold. Qualifying income is rent plus any self-employment income, before expenses. From 6 April 2026 it applies above £50,000 on the 2024 to 2025 tax return, from 6 April 2027 above £30,000 on the 2025 to 2026 return, and from 6 April 2028 above £20,000 on the 2026 to 2027 return.
Your rent. HMRC measures qualifying income before expenses, so mortgage interest, agent fees and repairs do not bring it down. Self-employment income is added to it, also before expenses.
Four times a year. Each quarterly update covers the tax year from 6 April to the end of the update period, not just the last three months, and is due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.
Yes, if the spreadsheet is linked digitally to bridging software that sends your updates to HMRC. Each record needs the amount, the date and a category.
By 31 January after the end of the tax year, as now. It is where you add any other income, such as employment, pensions, savings interest and dividends.
No. PlatformTaxHub keeps your income and expense records and shows each quarter's figures and the tax year to date. It is not HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital software, so the updates are sent through software that is, by you or your accountant.