April 2026 might feel comfortably distant, but for the UK's self-employed community and their accountants, it represents one of the most significant shifts in personal tax administration in a generation. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment — commonly abbreviated to MTD for ITSA, or simply MTD ITSA — will fundamentally change how sole traders and landlords report their income to HMRC. The old rhythm of gathering receipts in January and filing a single annual return is coming to an end. In its place: quarterly digital submissions, structured record-keeping, and software that talks directly to HMRC's systems.
The good news is that you have time to prepare properly. The bad news is that many businesses are not yet aware of what is coming. This guide cuts through the jargon and gives you a clear, practical roadmap — whether you are a sole trader running a plumbing business in Leeds, a landlord with two rental properties in Bristol, or an accountant managing a portfolio of small business clients.
Who Is Affected and When?
MTD for ITSA will be introduced in phases, based on gross income (not profit). The current confirmed timetable is:
- April 2026: Sole traders and landlords with gross income over £50,000 per year must comply.
- April 2027: The threshold drops to £30,000, bringing a much larger group into scope.
- April 2028 onwards: A further expansion to those earning over £20,000 is under consultation — watch HMRC announcements closely.
Gross income means your total turnover or rental receipts before any expenses are deducted. If you run a sole trader business alongside a rental property, HMRC will combine both sources of income when determining whether you cross the threshold. A self-employed electrician earning £35,000 from their trade and receiving £20,000 in rental income would have combined gross income of £55,000 — firmly in scope from April 2026.
Partnerships, trusts, and limited companies are not included in this first wave. MTD for ITSA applies to individuals filing under Self Assessment with trading or property income.
What Exactly Will Change? The New Quarterly Cycle
Under the current system, you file one Self Assessment tax return per year — traditionally by 31 January following the end of the tax year. MTD for ITSA replaces this with a four-quarterly submission cycle, plus two additional steps at year end.
Here is how the annual cycle will look for someone with a 6 April to 5 April tax year:
- Quarter 1 (6 April – 5 July): Submit a summary of income and expenses by 7 August.
- Quarter 2 (6 July – 5 October): Submit by 7 November.
- Quarter 3 (6 October – 5 January): Submit by 7 February.
- Quarter 4 (6 January – 5 April): Submit by 7 May.
- End of Period Statement (EOPS): Confirm the accuracy of your business figures for the full year.
- Final Declaration: Replace your current SA100 return, pulling together all income sources to calculate your final tax liability. Due by 31 January.
Importantly, the quarterly updates are summaries — you are not paying tax four times a year. Your tax liability is still calculated once, after the Final Declaration. The submissions give HMRC an ongoing picture of your finances and allow you to track your estimated tax bill throughout the year, which is genuinely useful for cash-flow planning.
Getting Your Digital Records in Order
The most immediate practical step is to ensure you are keeping digital records using HMRC-compatible software. Under MTD for ITSA, every transaction — every invoice raised, every business expense incurred — must be recorded digitally. A spreadsheet can technically qualify, but only if it is linked to bridging software that formats and submits your data to HMRC's API. A standalone Excel file is not sufficient on its own.
Purpose-built accounting software is a far cleaner solution. Platforms such as BizHub365 are built with MTD ITSA compliance in mind, allowing sole traders to submit quarterly updates directly to HMRC without needing third-party bridging tools. Everything lives in one place: invoices, expenses, bank imports, and HMRC submissions. For a sole trader juggling client work alongside their admin, eliminating the bridging-software layer makes a tangible difference.
Start your digital record-keeping now, even if you are not legally required to comply until April 2026. Running a full tax year — 2024/25 or 2025/26 — through compliant software before the mandate hits means you arrive at April 2026 with confidence, not chaos. You will understand how to categorise expenses, you will have a clean audit trail, and you will already know what a quarterly submission looks like.
Practical Steps to Take Right Now
Knowing the rules is one thing; acting on them is another. Here is what you should be doing today:
- Calculate your gross income. Add up all trading income and property income from your latest Self Assessment return. If you are above £50,000 combined, April 2026 is your deadline.
- Audit your current record-keeping. Are you using paper receipts, a spreadsheet, or proper accounting software? Identify the gap between where you are and where you need to be.
- Choose MTD-compatible software. HMRC maintains a list of approved software on GOV.UK. Evaluate options based on your business type, budget, and whether you want payroll, VAT, and bookkeeping all in one place.
- Register for MTD for ITSA. You will need to sign up through your Government Gateway account. HMRC will open registration well in advance of the April 2026 start date — keep an eye on GOV.UK for updates.
- Talk to your accountant. If you use one, have a conversation now about how your working relationship will change. Will they manage your quarterly submissions? Will you handle them yourself and pass the data over?
- Set up a business bank account if you have not already. Mixing personal and business transactions makes digital record-keeping unnecessarily complicated. Many challenger banks — such as Starling or Monzo Business — offer free accounts for sole traders.
Advice for Accountants Managing Multiple Clients
If you are an accountant or bookkeeper, the scale of this change is significant. Moving a portfolio of 50 or 100 clients onto MTD-compatible software, re-educating them on quarterly deadlines, and restructuring your own workflows is not a small project. Firms that wait until late 2025 to start will face an extremely pressured transition.
The firms navigating this most smoothly are those treating the 2024/25 tax year as a rehearsal period: migrating clients incrementally, piloting the quarterly submission process with willing early adopters, and standardising on a single software platform to reduce complexity. Platforms like BizHub365 offer a multi-tenant accountant dashboard, meaning you can manage all your clients' MTD submissions, bookkeeping, and payroll from a single login — rather than juggling multiple software licences across different providers.
It is also worth considering how your pricing model needs to evolve. Four quarterly submissions plus an EOPS and Final Declaration per client represents considerably more work than a single annual return. Many practices are already moving towards monthly retainers rather than one-off annual fees — a change that MTD makes both logical and necessary.
Conclusion: The Time to Act Is Now
MTD for ITSA is not a distant regulatory curiosity — for hundreds of thousands of sole traders and landlords, it is a legal obligation that kicks in less than 18 months from now. The penalties for non-compliance, while still being finalised by HMRC, are expected to follow the points-based system already introduced for MTD for VAT.
The businesses and accountants that will find April 2026 straightforward are those who have already made the mental and practical shift: digital records as the default, software that connects directly to HMRC, and an understanding of the quarterly cycle. Start that shift today. Review your income thresholds, choose your software, and run through the process once before it becomes compulsory.
Tax administration in the UK is changing for good. The question is simply whether you are ready for it.