Deadline looms for Making Tax Digital and most yet to sign up

Of the 864,000 qualifying taxpayers who are required to comply with the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) rules, over half-a-million have yet to sign up.

On Friday 7th August those with a qualifying income over £50,000 will have to submit quarterly reports on their earnings and expenses digitally, either using software or bridging software.

In a recent post on LinkedIn HMRC’s Director for Making Tax Digital, Craig Ogilvie, stated that there have been just 336,000 sign-ups for MTD and that 69% have been what he described as ‘agent-led’.

The situation could worsen as the net widens in April 2027 and April 2028 when the qualifying bands for MTD drop to £30,000 and £20,000 respectively.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is one of a number of groups warning that people are not ready. They estimate that over 100,000 landlords and self-employed without an accountant are still not registered for MTD.

This represents over half of the 216,000 unrepresented taxpayers who have to take part in MTD.

Sharron West, LITRG Technical Officer, said:       

“While most of the taxpayers who need to use Making Tax Digital from April 2026 have the services of a professional tax adviser or accountant to help them, there are a significant number who don’t, and many of them have still not signed up.

“We are concerned that there are a substantial number of people who should register but don’t realise they need to. 

“However, the good news is that there’s still time for these taxpayers to get ready ahead of the first reporting update due on 7 August 2026.”

She continued:

“The first thing these taxpayers should do is check their self-assessment tax return for 2024/25 to see if they meet the criteria for the April 2026 start date. 

“HMRC have written to taxpayers who they think should follow the Making Tax Digital rules from April 2026, but it’s possible they might not have received the letter. They should still check if they are unsure. 

“Then, they should check to see whether they are entitled to an exemption. Some exemptions are automatic but some need to be applied for, for example, if you are digitally excluded. These types of exemptions are dealt with by HMRC on a case-by-case basis and we don’t yet know how strict or lenient the rules for these will be.

“If after this they still need to register, they need to choose suitable software and begin collating the information on their income and expenses that they will report to HMRC later this year.

“There are no penalties currently for missing the August 2026 deadline, but it is important to get to grips with the MTD requirements sooner rather than later.”

Recent research shows that people still do not fully understand MTD and what's being asked of them, despite the deadline looming.

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