MTD exemptions: who’s automatically out, and who can apply

There are two ways to be outside Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax: automatically exempt, where there is nothing to apply for, and exempt on application, where you ask HMRC. There’s also a third group, the biggest of all: people who aren’t exempt, just not mandated yet, because MTD arrives in income waves. Everything below follows HMRC’s exemption guidance (opens in a new tab), last updated 28 May 2026 and checked 5 August 2026.

Are you exempt, or just not in yet?

MTD applies from April 2026 if your gross qualifying income is more than £50,000, from April 2027 if more than £30,000, and from April 2028 if more than £20,000, each judged on a tax return you’ve already filed. Below the threshold on the return that matters means you’re simply not mandated yet: no exemption needed, and Self Assessment carries on as normal. The free checker gives you your date, and our guides cover the April 2027 and April 2028 waves.

Who is automatically exempt from MTD?

Automatic means automatic: no form, no phone call, carry on filing the way you do now. As the guidance stood at 28 May 2026, you’re automatically exempt if any of these fit:

• Your qualifying income is £20,000 or less. That stays the floor even after the last announced wave arrives in April 2028.
• You don’t have a National Insurance number at the start of the tax year.
• You’re a personal representative of someone who has died, or a trustee.
• You file as a minister of religion or a Lloyd’s underwriter (the SA102M and SA103L supplementary pages).
• Someone holds power of attorney for you because of physical or mental incapacity.
• You trade in a partnership: as of August 2026, partnerships file as they always have, with their MTD start date still to be set by HMRC.
• Until April 2027: you claim averaging relief (farmers and creative artists), qualifying care relief (foster and shared-lives carers), or you file the SA107 or SA109 supplementary pages.

Who can apply for an exemption?

The applied-for route is for digital exclusion: when it isn’t reasonable for you to keep records in software at all. HMRC’s own examples:

• Age, disability or a health condition means you can’t use a computer, tablet or smartphone.
• There’s no internet access at your home or business, and no reasonable place nearby to get it.
• Your religious beliefs are incompatible with using electronic communications.

The same guidance is blunt about what doesn’t qualify on its own: having always filed on paper, being unfamiliar with software, or the cost of it.

How do you apply, and what happens meanwhile?

The guidance page (opens in a new tab) links to the application route: you set out your circumstances and HMRC decides. Until the answer arrives, keep filing the way you do now. If HMRC agrees, Self Assessment continues as it always has; if it doesn’t, the sign-up guide covers what comes next.

Not exempt, and not sure which April is yours? The two-minute checker tells you, and we can email you before each deadline once you’re in.