The Logbook

Sole traders and landlords earning more than £30,000: why 2025 to 2026 is the year that decides it

A kitchen table with a laptop showing a spreadsheet of mileage and cost entries, a notebook with handwritten notes about the 2025 to 2026 tax year and April 2027, receipts, a phone, a calculator and car keys; hands writing in the notebook — AI-generated illustration. Figures shown are not real data.

If you drive for private hire or ride-hailing work as a sole trader, or you have rental income on top, there is a date worth knowing now, even though it is over a year away: 6 April 2027.

The rule

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax requires digital record-keeping and quarterly updates to HMRC, instead of one return a year. It is being brought in gradually, by income level:

Over £50,000 qualifying income in 2024 to 2025: in from 6 April 2026.
Over £30,000 qualifying income in 2025 to 2026: in from 6 April 2027.
Over £20,000 qualifying income in 2026 to 2027: in from 6 April 2028.

Qualifying income is your turnover from self-employment and property income added together, before expenses, not your profit after costs.

Why this matters now, not in 2027

The £30,000 threshold is checked against your 2025 to 2026 tax year, which is the one most sole traders and landlords are filing a Self Assessment return for around now and over the coming months. Whether you cross the line is decided by a year that is already finished, not a year you can still plan around.

If your turnover for 2025 to 2026 (self-employment and property income together, before expenses) comes to more than £30,000, you are in scope for MTD for Income Tax from April 2027, whatever your plans are between now and then.

If you drive for Uber or a similar platform that pays you net of its own fee, there is one thing to settle with your accountant first: whether your turnover is the full fare the rider paid, or what the platform paid you after its service fee. The two can be thousands of pounds apart, and that alone can decide which side of £30,000 you are on.

What to do

Work out your turnover for 2025 to 2026: self-employment and property income combined, before expenses, not just profit.
If it is close to £30,000, treat that as settled once this year's return is filed. The threshold looks backward, not forward.
If you drive for Uber or a similar platform, ask your accountant which figure counts as your turnover before you rely on the £30,000 line.
This does not change anything about this year's tax return. It only affects whether you will need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates from April 2027.
Check HMRC's guidance for exactly how qualifying income is calculated in your situation, since self-employment and property income can interact in ways a general article cannot cover.

Last checked 6 October 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your accountant or HMRC has the final word.

Drafted with AI help. Every fact is checked against the official sources listed, and a person at SEEKRESOLVE. LTD reads each article before it is published.