Qualifying income for MTD is your self-employment income and your property income added together, before any expenses are taken off. HMRC compares that total with the Making Tax Digital threshold to decide if and when you have to join.
For example, £25,000 of rent plus £27,000 of self-employed sales gives £52,000 of qualifying income. That is over the £50,000 threshold, whatever your profit was.
What counts as qualifying income, and what doesn’t
| Counts | Doesn’t count |
|---|---|
| Sales from self-employment as a sole trader | Wages or salary from a job |
| Rent from UK property | State and private pensions |
| Rent from overseas property, if you live in the UK | Dividends, including from your own company |
| Your share of rent from jointly owned property | Your share of a partnership’s profit |
| Income from a bare trust or interest in possession trust | Qualifying care relief, such as foster care payments |
GOV.UK’s list also covers some less common items. Check it if you have income from trusts, land deals or investment funds.
Once you know your figure, put it into our MTD threshold checker to see when you have to join.
Is qualifying income turnover or profit?
Turnover. Qualifying income is the money coming in before expenses, so a business with high costs and a small profit can still be over the threshold.
Which tax return does HMRC use?
HMRC looks at the Self Assessment tax return you sent in the previous tax year. Your 2024/25 return decided whether you joined in April 2026. Your 2025/26 return decides April 2027, and your 2026/27 return decides April 2028.
Jointly owned property
Only your share of the rent counts. If you and a partner own a property equally and it brings in £50,000 a year, £25,000 counts towards your qualifying income and £25,000 towards theirs.
If you only traded or let for part of the year
HMRC scales the figure up to a full year. For sole traders, HMRC does this itself where it has the information, so six months of sales is doubled. If you have property income, you work out the full-year figure yourself.
If you live outside the UK
UK property income still counts, and so does any self-employment income you declare on your UK tax return. Rent from property outside the UK doesn’t count if you’re not UK resident.
If one of your income sources stops
If one source stops but another carries on, the income from both still counts for that year’s test. If all your self-employment and property income stopped before 6 April 2026, you don’t need to use Making Tax Digital, but you should tell HMRC so it doesn’t sign you up.
Source: GOV.UK, Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, last updated 11 September 2026. Checked 5 October 2026. This page is general information, not tax advice.