What the sign-up actually means
HMRC signs people up using the information it already holds, which is why the trigger is your qualifying income being over the threshold in the tax year before. You may receive the confirmation in your HMRC online services account or by post, depending on your circumstances.
Being signed up is not the same as being ready. The service is expecting four quarterly updates built from digital records, and none of that can happen until you have software connected to HMRC.
Check the details HMRC holds about you
- Confirm your self-employment and property income details, including every UK and overseas property
- Add any new self-employment or property income since your last tax return
- Tell HMRC about any income source that has ceased
- Check whether an exemption applies to you
The details will be based on your 2024-25 return, and your 2025-26 return if it was submitted before you were signed up. If you filed later, you still need to update your details in the service, because HMRC signed you up on the information it held at the time.
All of your UK properties are treated as one UK property business, and all of your foreign properties as one foreign property business, so the check is for the businesses rather than each individual address.
If the income has stopped
If all of your self-employment and property income ceased before 6 April 2026, you update your information in your HMRC online account and you do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. You still submit the tax return for 2025-26.
If it ceased on or after 6 April 2026, you still need Making Tax Digital and compatible software, because you have to send a quarterly update covering the period up to the date the income stopped.
The steps to start using the service
- Sign in to HMRC online services with the details you use for Self Assessment, and select Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Work through the checks of your income sources
- Choose compatible software and authorise it so it is connected to HMRC
- Check the accounting period in your software before your first update
- Catch up on digital records from the start of the tax year, then send each quarterly update as it falls due