Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Qualifying income is your total income from self‑employment and property. This is the amount before expenses (also known as turnover), based on the tax return you submitted in the previous tax year. Your total income may come from more than one source of self-employment or property income.

All other sources of income do not count towards your qualifying income. Other sources of income include:

HMRC will assess your qualifying income for a tax year by checking the Self Assessment tax return that you submitted in the previous tax year. You should also check your qualifying income yourself.

For example, your gross income could be:

In this example, your total qualifying income would be £52,000.

If we review your return and find your income is above the relevant threshold, we will write to you confirming that you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax by the start of the next tax year.

Even if you do not receive a letter, you must still check your qualifying income to find out if you need to use the service and sign up.

Ceasing a self-employment or property income source means that your business has stopped trading or you have stopped receiving income from property.

Ceasing a single self-employment or property income source

Self-employment or property income that has ceased since you submitted your last tax return will be included in your qualifying income, if you have another continuing source of self-employment or property income.

For example, in the 2024 to 2025 tax year you were self-employed and owned one property that you rented out. You then sold the property, ceasing your property income, and included both income sources on your 2024 to 2025 tax return. As you continue to receive self-employment income, the property income will still count towards your qualifying income.