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HMRC sign-up letter

HMRC has signed you up for MTD. Here’s what to do now.

From September 2026 HMRC is signing people up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax itself, and writing to tell them. If that letter has just arrived, this page explains what it means and what to do next, in plain English, with a link to HMRC’s own guidance for every step.

Last reviewed: 26 September 2026. Every fact in the written guide on this page links to the GOV.UK guidance it comes from; the video and its text version cover the same guidance. HMRC can change its guidance - if anything here differs from GOV.UK, GOV.UK is right.

Video: HMRC has signed you up for MTD for Income Tax: what the letter means (and what to do now)

Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. The video has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. You can also watch it on YouTube. The text version below says everything the video says.

Text version of this video

  1. What the letter means

    If HMRC has written to say it has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you now need compatible software for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. HMRC has done the sign-up. The next steps are yours.

  2. From September 2026, HMRC is signing people up in stages: sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year, who haven't signed up themselves. The letter comes by post, or in your HMRC online account.

  3. Step 1: check your details

    Step one. Sign in to HMRC online services, with the details you use for Self Assessment. Check the income sources HMRC holds for you. Add any new ones, and tell HMRC about any that have stopped.

  4. Step 2: choose software

    Step two. Choose software. HMRC does not provide it. Use HMRC's find software tool on GOV.UK, and check that the product covers all of your income sources.

  5. Step 3: catch up

    Step three. Catch up. Authorise your software, create digital records from the start of the tax year, and send your overdue quarterly update as soon as possible. The next deadline is 7 November.

  6. Penalties this tax year

    For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, there are no penalty points for missing a quarterly update deadline. You still send your final quarterly update before your tax return, and penalty points do apply if the return is late. Your full tax bill is due by 31 January after the tax year ends.

  7. If you think it doesn't apply to you

    If you think you shouldn't have been signed up, contact HMRC's Self Assessment general enquiries, or check if you can get an exemption. The links are in the description.

  8. EasyTaxer is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. You'll find it at easytaxer.com.

Where the video says the links are in the description, they are the GOV.UK pages linked on this page.

Why you got the letter

If you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the 2026 to 2027 tax year and had not signed up yourself (or through an agent), HMRC is now signing you up on your behalf. HMRC explains why:

“If you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the 2026 to 2027 tax year and have not signed up yet, we will sign you up. This is because our records show your qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year.”

Source: Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)

HMRC is doing this in stages over the coming months, and sends the confirmation to your HMRC online services account or by post. Qualifying income is not your profit. It is your total self-employment and property income before expenses - in HMRC’s words, “the amount before expenses (also known as turnover)”. If you own a property jointly, only your share of the income counts. A share of profit from a partnership as an individual partner does not count. See Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on GOV.UK.

HMRC does not pick software for you. That part is still your choice.

What HMRC asks you to do next

GOV.UK sets out the steps after HMRC has signed you up. In short:

  1. 1 Sign in to HMRC online services and select ‘Making Tax Digital for Income Tax’. You use the sign in details you use for Self Assessment. If you have never used HMRC online services, you set up an account first (sign in or register on GOV.UK).
  2. 2 Check and confirm the records HMRC holds. They are based on your 2024 to 2025 tax return (and your 2025 to 2026 return, if you sent it before HMRC signed you up). Confirm your self-employment and property income, add any new self-employment or property income, and tell HMRC about anything that has stopped. All your UK properties count as one UK property business, and all your foreign properties as one foreign property business.
  3. 3 Get software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC does not provide software. You can use HMRC’s find software tool to check the software you already use or find new software, and to check it covers all your income sources. GOV.UK notes “there are both free and paid for options available”.
  4. 4 Catch up. Create digital records in your software from the start of the tax year (6 April 2026), after you have authorised the software and checked its accounting period. Then send your overdue quarterly update as soon as possible. Your HMRC online account shows any overdue quarterly updates and the upcoming deadlines.

The full wording is on GOV.UK: Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. If you have an accountant or agent, they can do these steps for you.

The quarterly update you have already missed

If you were signed up in September, the first quarterly update deadline (7 August 2026) has already passed. This is what HMRC says about that:

HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

You will need to send your quarterly updates before you are able to submit your tax return.

Penalty points will still apply for late tax returns for this tax year.

Source: Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK)

So there is no reason to panic, but there is a reason to catch up. Each quarterly update covers everything from the start of the tax year to the end of the period, not just the last three months, so your records need to go back to 6 April 2026 either way. The second deadline of the year is 7 November 2026, for the update covering 6 April to 5 October 2026 (Send quarterly updates, GOV.UK).

We explain the missed-update rules, and what still applies this year, in Missed a quarterly update in 2026/27? What actually happens.

If you think HMRC has got it wrong

  • All your self-employment and property income stopped before 6 April 2026: update your information in your HMRC online account. You will not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, but you still need to submit your 2025 to 2026 tax return.
  • It stopped on or after 6 April 2026: you still need compatible software to send a quarterly update covering up to the date it stopped, and to submit your 2026 to 2027 tax return. After that you no longer need to use it.
  • You think you should not be in it at all: check whether you can get an exemption - for example, if it is not reasonable for you to use software because you are digitally excluded (Find out if you can get an exemption). If you think HMRC signed you up by mistake, GOV.UK says to contact Self Assessment: general enquiries.

Not sure whether you have been signed up yet? When you sign in to HMRC online services, a message on screen confirms it. No message means you are not signed up yet, and you can still sign up yourself. To check whether you need to use it and from when, see Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

The deadlines that have not changed

Being signed up does not move your tax return dates. If you have not yet sent your 2025 to 2026 tax return, it is still due by 31 January 2027 under the current rules. For 2026 to 2027, your first year under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you submit your tax return and pay any tax you owe by 31 January 2028 (Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK).

Every date for 2026/27 is on one page in our MTD deadlines 2026/27 calendar.

Choosing software

Start with HMRC’s find software tool: it is HMRC’s own list of compatible products, and it lets you filter by the income sources you have.

EasyTaxer is one of those products. It keeps your digital records, sends your quarterly updates for self-employment, UK property and foreign property, and submits your tax return, all in one place and in plain English, and your dashboard shows your next deadline. If you are new to it, read getting started and how connecting to HMRC works.

More in our guides: Can I get an exemption from MTD? and Choosing MTD software: what to check.

Sources

Everything in the written guide above comes from HMRC's own guidance on GOV.UK:

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