Time to get involved in MTD testing

Making tax digital for income tax self assessment (MTD ITSA) is now a little over two years away becoming compulsory for the first wave of self-employed individuals and landlords from April 2026. A key part of HMRC’s preparations is its pilot testing which is being extended to more taxpayers (and agents) from 22 April this year. In this article I’ll look at who can – and can’t – join the newly expanded pilot and why agents might want to consider signing up.

Quick reminder of the rules

Before getting into the details of HMRC’s testing it’s worth a quick reminder as to what MTD ITSA is and when it is coming into effect.

MTD ITSA will represent a substantial change in record keeping and reporting for those landlords and self-employed individuals affected. The three main pillars are:

• digital record keeping;
• quarterly updates; and...