MTD for Income Tax: when gig workers have to start

What it is

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) is HMRC's new digital record-keeping and quarterly reporting regime for self-employed people and landlords. Instead of one Self Assessment return a year, you keep digital records and send HMRC a summary of income and expenses every three months, then a final year-end declaration. The 31 January payment deadline still applies.

How it applies to gig workers

MTD ITSA starts in bands based on qualifying income, which is gross self-employment plus gross property income on your latest tax return. Over £50,000 gets you in from 6 April 2026. Over £30,000 brings you in from 6 April 2027. Over £20,000 brings you in from 6 April 2028. HMRC looks at your filed return and writes to tell you when you must start.

The key trap is gross versus profit. An Uber driver on £42,000 turnover and £8,000 expenses has £34,000 profit but the MTD test uses the £42,000 figure. If the same driver also lets a room for £12,000 gross, combined qualifying income is £54,000 and MTD starts 6 April 2026, with the first quarterly update for 6 April to 5 July 2026 due by 7 August 2026. The full standard tax-year quarter deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.

You do not need expensive software. HMRC accepts spreadsheets linked to bridging tools. Free or low-cost bridging options exist. The common route for multi-app drivers is: one spreadsheet with weekly columns for Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon Flex, fuel, repairs, phone, plus a bridging tool that sends quarterly totals. HMRC keeps a live list of recognised software. Pick one before you sign up. Reddit's claim that MTD means paying tax four times a year is wrong. Quarterly updates are rough summaries and you still pay the final bill by 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July where applicable.

What you should do about it

• Look at your latest filed return and add gross self-employment plus gross property income to find your qualifying income figure.
• If over £50,000, pick HMRC-recognised software now and start digital records from 6 April 2026.
• If between £30,000 and £50,000, use 2026-27 as a dry run because you start 6 April 2027.
• Separate business and personal bank accounts or at least tag business transactions clearly.
• Export weekly statements from each platform and drop them into your spreadsheet as soon as you are paid.
• Put the first quarterly deadline in your diary and do a dry-run submission before it arrives.

Last reviewed

19 April 2026

Internal links this page emits (3-5):

• mtd start date checker — anchor: "check your MTD start date"
• self assessment deadlines 2026 — anchor: "Self Assessment deadlines"
• trading allowance — anchor: "trading allowance"
• record keeping gig workers — anchor: "gig worker record-keeping"
• payments on account — anchor: "payments on account"

Primary source used:

• Research/S2-tax/2.2-making-tax-digital.md
• Research/Gap/G4.5-mtd-readiness.md