Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: accountant marketing

MTD for Income Tax reaches sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 from 6 April 2027. Here is how practices can win and keep those clients.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has applied since 6 April 2026 to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. The threshold drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and to £20,000 from 6 April 2028. For an accountancy practice, April 2027 is the phase to market around: HMRC statistics published in August 2025 counted about 1,077,000 people with qualifying income between £30,000 and £50,000 in the 2023 to 2024 tax year. Unless exempt, people in that band in 2025 to 2026 will need compatible software, digital records and quarterly updates.

This is marketing guidance, not tax advice: check anything technical with your own tax specialists before it goes on your website.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: the rules as of September 2026

Who has to use it, and when

HMRC's guidance on whether and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 March 2026) covers sole traders and landlords registered for Self Assessment whose qualifying income is over the threshold. Each phase looks back at an earlier tax year:

From 6 April 2026: over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year.
From 6 April 2027: over £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year.
From 6 April 2028: over £20,000 in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

HMRC reviews Self Assessment returns each year and writes to people over the threshold, but says people who get no letter are still responsible for checking. Partnerships will be brought in later, with no timeline set yet.

What counts as qualifying income

HMRC's page on working out qualifying income (updated 16 July 2026) defines it as total self-employment and property income before expenses. That is turnover, not profit. Your share of jointly owned property income counts. PAYE employment income, your share of a partnership's profit, dividends (including from your own company) and pensions do not.

So a landlord who collected £32,000 in rent in 2025 to 2026 is in from April 2027, even if costs brought the profit far below that. A salaried director with £25,000 of rent in 2025 to 2026 is not in for April 2027, because the salary and dividends are ignored. If the rent is still over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027, they are in from April 2028.

Quarterly updates and the end-of-year tax return

HMRC's guide to sending quarterly updates (updated 7 September 2026) describes them as summaries of income and expenses from digital records, not tax returns. The deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Each update covers the tax year to date, so records can be corrected without resending earlier updates.

After the year ends, the client submits a tax return through compatible software by 31 January, including other income such as savings interest, dividends and partnership profits. Earlier HMRC guidance called this the final declaration, and the term still appears in the guide's change log, so use both terms on your pages.

Each digital record needs the amount, date and category. HMRC's page on creating digital records (updated 7 September 2026) treats several properties as one UK property business and gives joint landlords an easier route: they record only their share, can use one record per category, and can leave expenses out of quarterly updates until the tax return.

Who is exempt

HMRC's exemptions page (updated 28 May 2026) lists automatic exemptions including qualifying income of £20,000 or less, no National Insurance number, personal representatives of someone who has died, trusts filing an SA900, Lloyd's members, ministers of religion, and people who received or transferred Blind Person's Allowance or Married Couple's Allowance. Some of these depend on what the 2024 to 2025 tax return showed.

Some exemptions end in April 2027. People whose 2024 to 2025 return claimed averaging relief (such as farmers) or qualifying care relief (such as foster carers), or included the SA107 or SA109 pages, are exempt for 2026 to 2027 only. HMRC says they will need to use MTD from 2027 to 2028 if their qualifying income is over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026.

People who are not automatically exempt can apply for a digital exclusion exemption where age, health, disability, religious belief, or no internet access because of their location makes software unreasonable. HMRC says unfamiliarity with software, having filed on paper before, or the extra time and cost are not reasons on their own.

Penalties: when they start to count

HMRC's penalties guidance (updated 30 March 2026) says the new regime applies from the tax year a person joins. In 2026 to 2027 there are no points for missed quarterly updates, though a missed tax return deadline earns one. From 2027 to 2028 every missed quarterly update or return deadline earns a point, and 4 points brings a £200 penalty, plus £200 for each further miss.

So late quarterly updates count against the April 2027 group from their first quarter. That is a factual reason to hire an accountant, and you can say it without scaremongering.

Late payment penalties for 2026 to 2027 are 3% of the tax owed at day 15, another 3% at day 30, and a yearly rate of 10% charged daily from day 31. The two 3% charges rise to 4% from 2027 to 2028. In a person's first year of the new penalties, HMRC allows 30 days to pay in full or set up a payment plan before penalties apply.

Software

HMRC does not provide software. Its software guidance (updated 13 July 2026) says compatible software must keep digital records, send quarterly updates and submit the tax return, and that bridging software can link spreadsheets. It also states: "HMRC does not recommend any product or software provider". Bear that in mind before writing "HMRC approved" anywhere.

What your practice needs as an agent

HMRC's agent step by step sets out the order:

Work out each client's qualifying income and when they are in.
Apply for an agent services account if you do not have one, with your business Government Gateway details, UTR and proof of anti-money laundering supervision.
Add client authorisations. Existing Self Assessment authorisations are recognised, and adding them this way makes you the main agent.
Get compatible software.
Sign up each client individually. Adding authorisations does not sign them up.

HMRC's page on main and supporting agents matters for packaging. A supporting agent can send quarterly updates but cannot submit the tax return or view the tax calculation, so a bookkeeper can handle the quarters while your practice stays main agent.

Why April 2027 is the phase to market around

HMRC's business population statistics (published 13 August 2025, using 2023 to 2024 data) split the 1,077,000 people in the £30,000 to £50,000 band into 798,000 sole traders only, 182,000 landlords only and 97,000 with both. The April 2028 band (£20,000 to £30,000) leans more towards landlords: 263,000 landlords only out of 975,000.

The timing is specific for three reasons:

The first group is still catching up. HMRC's August 2026 press release said more than 436,000 sole traders and landlords had sent a first quarterly update and over 570,000 had signed up. Its guidance on automatic sign-up (published 24 August 2026) says HMRC is signing up people over £50,000 in stages from September 2026, who then have to catch up.
The 2025 to 2026 return decides April 2027. Online returns for that year are due by 31 January 2027, which leaves a last-day filer just over nine weeks before 6 April 2027.
Some people lose an exemption. Farmers claiming averaging relief, foster carers claiming qualifying care relief, and people filing the SA107 or SA109 pages join from April 2027 if their 2025 to 2026 qualifying income is over £30,000.

Build dedicated MTD pages by audience

A general page competes with GOV.UK, the professional bodies and software companies. A page for one audience, with your service and price, is more useful. Google's guidance on helpful, people-first content asks whether content clearly shows first-hand expertise. A practice that signs clients up and sends their updates has that.

The pages I would build first:

Making Tax Digital for landlords. Turnover not profit, the joint owner share rule and simpler records, several properties as one business, and what you do each quarter.
Making Tax Digital for sole traders. Turnover examples by trade, what a quarterly update involves, and who does what.
"HMRC has signed me up." For people who have found themselves signed up: the catch-up steps and how quickly you can take them on.
Landlords with a salary. Employment income is ignored, so only rent and any self-employment income matter. Saying so plainly earns trust.
Narrow pages, if you have the clients. Farmers or foster carers whose temporary exemption ends in April 2027.

Every page needs the threshold dates, a turnover example, what your service includes, a from price, the software you support, a named author or reviewer, a last reviewed date and one clear enquiry route. The SEO service page explains how I approach this kind of work, and the accountants page covers the sector more widely.

Search terms people use

UK keyword data from September 2026 shows these groups of searches:

What and when: "what is making tax digital", "making tax digital deadlines", "when does making tax digital start". Answer these on your audience pages rather than paying for clicks.
Audience: "making tax digital landlords", "making tax digital for sole traders", "making tax digital self employed", "making tax digital partnerships". Build pages for these, and tell partnerships honestly that no date is set.
Software: "making tax digital software", "free making tax digital software", "bridging software for making tax digital" and brand names. Worth targeting only if you sell setup and training.
Hiring: "making tax digital accountants". The same data records a local map pack in the results for this, so your Google Business Profile matters as much as the page.

Time campaigns to HMRC's calendar

People search when something forces them to: a letter, a deadline or a tax return.

November 2026 to January 2027. HMRC's automatic sign-ups roll out and the 7 February 2027 quarterly deadline approaches. Promote your "signed me up" page, with a small Google Ads campaign on catch-up and sign-up terms.
January 2027. Every 2025 to 2026 return you prepare tells you who is in from April 2027. Say so in your Self Assessment emails.
February to early April 2027. Sign-up and software decisions before 6 April 2027, plus any HMRC letters that follow its review of 2025 to 2026 returns. This is the main push for landlord and sole trader pages and paid search.
July 2027. The new group's first quarterly deadline is 7 August 2027.
Late 2027. Start again for April 2028, decided by 2026 to 2027 returns.

Tie Google Ads budgets to what a client is worth; the Google Ads budget calculator works out a maximum bid and monthly budget from your target enquiries. Build negative keywords before launch. "MTD" on its own is ambiguous: UK keyword data shows it in searches about drug tests and lawnmowers, and MTD for VAT is a separate regime. Add negatives such as "drug", "mower" and "vat", and exclude "free" and software brands unless you sell setup. The Google Ads service page covers how I run accounts for practices.

Referral routes: letting agents and mortgage brokers

I would start with letting agents. On fully managed lets the agent collects the rent and sends the statements, so landlords' MTD questions tend to reach them. Give local agents a one-page landlord guide with your name on it: thresholds, the turnover point and the joint owner rule. Ask whether their statements export in a format your software reads.

Mortgage brokers deal with self-employed borrowers and landlords who need income evidence. GOV.UK's SA302 page notes that self-employed mortgage applicants may be asked for an SA302 or tax year overview. A broker who knows a practice with up-to-date quarterly records has a reason to refer. Bookkeepers are a third route, since the supporting agent role lets them send quarterly updates while you file the return.

If referral fees change hands in either direction, check your professional body's rules on disclosure and client consent first.

Bookkeeping packages that match the quarterly cycle

MTD turns a once-a-year job into four touchpoints plus the return. Package it so clients know what each quarter includes:

Setup and year end: software set up, a training session, the client sends updates, you file the return.
Quarterly review: the client keeps records, you check them and send each update and the return.
Full bookkeeping: you keep the records, send the updates and file the return.
Joint landlord: priced per owner, using HMRC's simpler joint property records.

Put from prices on the page. The cost per enquiry calculator shows what you can afford to spend winning each client.

Email existing clients before someone else does

Existing clients are the easiest MTD clients to keep, and the ones a competitor with a clearer offer wants. Segment them as you prepare 2025 to 2026 returns:

Over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025: already in. Check who HMRC has signed up and whether updates are current.
Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 and not already in: in from 6 April 2027.
Over £20,000 up to £30,000 in 2025 to 2026: likely in from 6 April 2028, depending on 2026 to 2027 income.
£20,000 or less, or exempt: tell them they are not in for now, and check again next year.

Then send four emails: what MTD means for them; why this year's return decides it; "you are in from 6 April 2027, here is our plan and price"; and a reminder before 7 August 2027.

The ICO's guidance on electronic mail marketing says sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals. You need their consent or the soft opt-in: details collected when they bought or negotiated to buy from you, marketing of similar services, and a clear chance to opt out when details were collected and in every message. Check with whoever handles data protection at your practice before you send.

If you want a second opinion on how your website handles MTD, ask for a free audit.

Common questions

Does Making Tax Digital for Income Tax apply to landlords?

Yes, if qualifying income is over the threshold: £50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Rent counts before expenses, and joint owners count only their share.

Is MTD for Income Tax based on turnover or profit?

Turnover. HMRC defines qualifying income as self-employment and property income before expenses. Employment income, partnership profit shares, dividends and pensions do not count.

Will people joining in April 2027 get penalty points for late quarterly updates?

Yes. The no-points concession for quarterly updates covers only the 2026 to 2027 tax year. From 2027 to 2028 each missed deadline earns a point, and 4 points means a £200 penalty.

When should a practice start marketing the April 2027 phase?

Before January 2027. The 2025 to 2026 return decides who is in, online returns are due by 31 January 2027, and the rules start on 6 April 2027.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: a marketing plan for accountants