Making Tax Digital exemptions and who does not have to join

Some people are exempt automatically and never need to apply. Others, including anyone who genuinely cannot use software, have to ask HMRC for an exemption in writing or by phone.

There are two kinds of exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Some apply automatically, so you do nothing and HMRC does not expect you to sign up. Others you have to apply for, and the main one is being digitally excluded, which means it is not reasonable for you to use software at all.

Before you look for an exemption, check whether the rules even reach you yet. If your qualifying income is below the threshold for your year, you are already exempt automatically and there is nothing to apply for.

Who is exempt automatically, with no application

You do not need to contact HMRC at all if any of these apply to you. These exemptions are permanent unless your circumstances change.

Situation	Notes
Your qualifying income is £20,000 or less	You are automatically exempt and do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
You do not have a National Insurance number before the start of the tax year	You cannot sign up without one
You submit an SA700 for a non-resident company
You submit an SA900 for a trust	Includes charitable trusts and trusts of non-registered pension schemes
You act as the personal representative of someone who has died	You must still complete any outstanding Self Assessment tax returns
Your 2024 to 2025 tax return included the SA103L supplementary page as a Lloyd's member, for your underwriting business
Your 2024 to 2025 tax return said you are not physically or mentally capable of providing information to HMRC, and you have either given power of attorney to someone in the UK that is currently in place, or a legally appointed deputy, controller or guardian

The SA700, SA900 and personal representative exemptions cover the return you file for that entity or estate. If you also have your own self-employment or property income, that income is assessed separately and may still bring you into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property before you take off any expenses, which HMRC also calls turnover. It is not your profit, so check how the figure is worked out before you rely on the £20,000 line.

The income threshold is itself an exemption

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is being introduced in stages. Each stage looks at your qualifying income in an earlier tax year, and if you were under the threshold for that year, you do not join at that point.

Qualifying income in this tax year	If it was over	You must use Making Tax Digital from
2024 to 2025	£50,000	6 April 2026
2025 to 2026	£30,000	6 April 2027
2026 to 2027	£20,000	6 April 2028

The first stage is already in force. If your qualifying income for the 2024 to 2025 tax year was over £50,000, you are in Making Tax Digital now. If it was not, you carry on with Self Assessment as normal and wait to see whether a later stage catches you. Our guide on whether you need to use Making Tax Digital walks through the check in more detail.

Note that each stage looks at an earlier year, not the year you are in. The April 2026 start date is decided by your 2024 to 2025 figure, so nothing you do in the current tax year changes whether you are in that first group.

You also do not need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax until after you have submitted your first Self Assessment tax return.

Partnerships, trusts and estates

Partnerships do not currently need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC has not published a date for when they will. If you trade through a partnership, nothing changes for the partnership return for now, although any personal sole trader or property income you have outside the partnership is still assessed on its own.

Trusts filing an SA900 and personal representatives of someone who has died are exempt automatically, as set out in the table above.

What being digitally excluded means

Being digitally excluded means it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software to keep digital records, or to send quarterly updates or submit your tax return. HMRC gives these as examples of when it may apply:

your age, health condition or disability stops you from using a computer, tablet or smartphone to keep digital records or submit them to HMRC
you are a practising member of a religious society or order whose beliefs are incompatible with using digital communications or keeping digital records, and you do not use a computer, tablet or smartphone for business or personal use
you cannot get internet access at your home or business because of your location, and cannot get access at a suitable alternative location

These are examples rather than a closed list. HMRC says there may be other reasons you may or may not be digitally excluded, and that it considers every application on a case by case basis.

Note the conditions attached to the second and third examples. Religious grounds only count if you do not use a device for personal use either. Poor connectivity at home only counts if you also cannot get online somewhere suitable nearby.

If you have an agent who keeps digital records in compatible software and submits them to HMRC, they can meet the Making Tax Digital requirements for you. HMRC suggests speaking to your agent first, because you may not need a digitally excluded exemption at all.

Reasons HMRC will not accept

HMRC will refuse your application if your only reason for applying is one of the following:

you previously filed a paper return
you are unfamiliar with accountancy software
you have a small number of digital records to create each tax year
it will take extra time or cost for you to sign up to and use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

None of these will get you an exemption on its own. It may be worth looking instead at keeping digital records and how little the requirement actually asks for.

How to apply

There is no online form. You must either call or write to HMRC using the contact details on the Self Assessment: general enquiries page. An authorised agent can apply for you, using the Agent Dedicated Line, and so can a friend or family member if you give them your authorisation.

If you write, put a title on the letter so it reaches the right team:

"Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - digitally excluded application" if you are applying because you are digitally excluded
"Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - exemption application" for any other exemption

Include your name and address, your National Insurance number, and an explanation of why you think you should be exempt, with anything that supports it. Be specific about your circumstances rather than describing the rule back to HMRC.

If you are applying on digitally excluded grounds, HMRC also wants to know how you submit your tax return now and whether anyone helps you, whether you have an agent and what they will do, and any additional needs so it can give you the right support.

If you think more than one exemption applies to you, send one application that explains why each of them applies.

When to apply

Apply before you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

You need to use Making Tax Digital from	Apply
6 April 2026	Now
6 April 2027	From summer 2026 onwards
6 April 2028	From summer 2027 onwards

HMRC aims to respond within 28 calendar days of receiving your application. It may take longer if it needs more information from you.

What happens while you are waiting

Applying does not pause anything. HMRC's advice is to read the steps for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax so you are ready to sign up and use it if your application is not accepted, and to carry on keeping your records and supporting documents the way you normally do for Self Assessment.

If you have already signed up and your circumstances have since changed, HMRC says to apply for the exemption and keep using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax until you hear back.

In practice that means knowing your quarterly update deadlines even while the decision is outstanding, so you are not starting from nothing if the answer is no. MTD Gateway sends the in-year quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income. It does not handle the end of year Final Declaration, which is a separate step.

If HMRC accepts your application

The letter will tell you which type of exemption you have been given and how long it lasts. If you are exempt until April 2027, you will not need to sign up and use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax until the 2027 to 2028 tax year at the earliest.

While you are exempt during the 2026 to 2027 tax year, you stay on the current Self Assessment late filing and late payment penalties rather than the new points based system. Our guide to Making Tax Digital penalties covers the difference.

If HMRC refuses

Your decision letter will explain why and how to appeal. You can appeal up to 30 days after the date on that letter, and you can ask HMRC for more time if you need it.

The appeal must be in writing, sent to the address given in the decision letter, and should include any new information you want HMRC to consider. Title it:

"Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - digitally excluded appeal" for a digitally excluded decision
"Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - exemption appeal" for any other exemption

Being exempt does not mean you stop filing

This is the part people get wrong. If you are exempt, you will not have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, but you must continue to report your income and gains in a Self Assessment tax return as normal. The exemption removes the digital record keeping and the quarterly updates. It does not remove the tax return. See whether you still file a Self Assessment return for how the two sit together.

Temporary exemptions that run out

Some exemptions are time limited rather than permanent, and they are based on what was in your 2024 to 2025 tax return. You do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the 2026 to 2027 tax year if that return included any of these:

averaging relief claimed on the SA103 supplementary page as an individual, for example as a farmer, market gardener, or someone who personally creates literary or artistic works
qualifying care relief, for example as a foster carer or kinship carer
the SA107 supplementary page, reporting income from trusts or estates
the SA109 supplementary page

You do not need to contact HMRC for any of these. But the exemption runs out: if your qualifying income was above £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from the 2027 to 2028 tax year onwards.

There is a trap in that first bullet. If you claimed averaging relief as a partner using the SA104 supplementary page rather than the SA103, the exemption is not automatic and you have to apply for it.

Other exemptions last beyond April 2027. Your 2024 to 2025 tax return gets you one of these automatically if it included:

the SA102M supplementary page, because you are a minister of religion of any faith, religion or denomination
the SA103L supplementary page, because you are a Lloyd's member with self-employment or property income
a declaration that you received or transferred Married Couple's Allowance, which applies to those born before 6 April 1935
a declaration that you received or transferred Blind Person's Allowance

You will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax at some point, but HMRC has not yet set out when.

If one of these was not on your 2024 to 2025 return but you reasonably expect to include it in your 2025 to 2026 or 2026 to 2027 return, you can apply for the exemption rather than getting it automatically. Use the same route, with the "exemption application" letter title. HMRC says not to apply unless you have good reason to think that information will actually be on the return.

Last reviewed 25 July 2026. This is general information about how Making Tax Digital works, not tax advice. We are not accountants. If your situation is complicated, speak to one, or check the guidance on GOV.UK.