MTD from April 2028: the next step after April 2027

Amara is fictional, but her situation is a common one: she runs a mobile hairdressing business as a sole trader, and her turnover sits comfortably above £20,000 without coming close to £30,000. When the 6 April 2027 threshold change was in the news, she checked her figures against it, saw she was under it, and assumed that settled things. It does not. There is a second step in the timeline, and it is the one that actually reaches down to her income.

Whether the 6 April 2028 step catches you

The mandation timeline widens in more than one move. By the time 6 April 2028 arrives, £30,000 will already be the figure in force, and 6 April 2028 is when it drops again, to £20,000. Anyone whose gross property and self-employment income sits over that new figure, but who was under the higher one already in force, joins MTD for Income Tax from that date rather than being caught by the earlier wave.

The income HMRC looks at for this step is your qualifying income for the 2026/27 tax year, so it is the return for that year that decides whether the 6 April 2028 step applies to you.

The test itself does not change between steps, only the figure it is measured against. The main MTD guide covers how the wider eligibility rules work, and the guide to the earlier threshold step covers the cohort brought in before this one, in case your figures turn out to sit above £30,000 after all. The Am I in MTD? calculator can take your own figures and say which step, if any, applies to you.

What counts as qualifying income

The figures above are tested against gross income, not profit, and only certain income counts towards it. Rent from UK property (and, for a UK resident, overseas property) and self-employment turnover are added together before any costs come off; salary, dividends, pension income and savings interest are not part of the test at all. The detail of what is included and excluded, including how jointly-owned property is treated, is covered fully in GOV.UK’s qualifying income guidance rather than restated here, since it is the version HMRC keeps current.

When your first quarterly updates fall

If the 6 April 2028 step is the one that brings you in, your first MTD tax year is 2028/29. These are the standard update periods for that tax year; if your software instead uses calendar quarters, the due dates stay the same but the periods shift slightly, and the deadlines calendar lays out both side by side.

The first quarterly update guide walks through what one of these updates actually needs to contain. What happens if a deadline slips, including any concession running at the time, sits in the penalties guide rather than here.

What to do before 6 April 2028 arrives

The months before your own step arrives are the calmest time to sort the practical side out, precisely because there is no live deadline pressure yet. Choosing MTD-compatible software, or a spreadsheet linked through compatible bridging software, tends to go better before the pressure sets in. The software selector narrows the tracked products to the ones that fit your property count, income mix and budget, and the comparison table is there if you would rather look at the full set side by side.

Moving to digital records is worth starting early too, since it is the habit that quarterly updates depend on rather than something that can be assembled retrospectively from a shoebox of paperwork. GOV.UK’s guidance on creating digital records sets out what counts and what the required digital links look like once information moves between one piece of software and another.

Where the calculator and reminders help

The threshold calculator is the fastest way to check your own figures against every step in the timeline, not just the one you happened to read about first. Once it places you in this step, it can also point you towards a reminder for your own first quarterly deadline, and the deadlines calendar keeps the same dates available alongside every other tax year in the mandate, so nothing depends on remembering a single date correctly.

Questions people ask about the 6 April 2028 step

How do I know if the 6 April 2028 step applies to me, rather than the one before it or nothing at all?

You are in this step if your combined gross property and self-employment income is over £20,000 but at or below £30,000. If you are already over £30,000, an earlier step is likely to catch you first; if you are under £20,000. Am I in MTD? calculator can check your own figures.

I checked the 6 April 2027 threshold and it did not catch me. Does that mean MTD does not apply to me at all?

Not necessarily. That earlier step only catches income over £30,000, so being under that figure just means a different step in the timeline may apply instead. The 6 April 2028 step reaches lower, down to £20,000, so it is worth checking your figures against this step before assuming you are out of scope altogether.

Does qualifying income mean my rental profit, after costs?

It means gross income, before costs such as letting agent fees, mortgage interest or repairs are deducted. Only the income side of the calculation counts for the threshold test, not what is left once expenses come off it.

When is my first quarterly update due once this step brings me in?

Your first MTD tax year would be 2028/29. On the standard quarterly system, its first update covers the opening months of that tax year and is due by 7 August 2028.

What should I do before the 6 April 2028 step arrives?

Start moving your records into MTD-compatible software, or into a spreadsheet linked through compatible bridging software, well before the deadline. Choosing while there is no live deadline pressure tends to produce a calmer decision than choosing in a rush afterwards.