Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies the same rules to everyone in scope: keep digital records, send quarterly updates, use compatible software, and submit a final declaration by 31 January. The thresholds, deadlines and penalty regime are identical whether you are a plumber, an Etsy seller or an Airbnb host.
But in practice, how you prepare for MTD depends heavily on what you do. A tradesperson buying materials from a builders’ merchant needs a different record-keeping approach to an online seller whose sales data lives in a platform export. The expenses that matter to an Airbnb host are nothing like the expenses that matter to an electrician.
This guide is the hub for profession-specific MTD content on this site. First, it covers what’s the same across all trades and how to choose software by trade type — the unique content no spoke covers. Then each section below links to a detailed guide that focuses on the practical differences for a specific trade.
For the full MTD overview, see our Making Tax Digital guide. For the detailed explainer on how MTD for Income Tax works, see MTD for Income Tax explained.
What Is MTD by Profession?
MTD by profession is how Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies in practice to different trades. The rules — digital records, quarterly updates, compatible software, qualifying income thresholds — are identical for everyone. What differs is the practical work: how you capture receipts, which expenses matter, and which software fits your workflow. A tradesperson buying materials from a merchant needs a different record-keeping approach to an online seller whose data lives in a platform export.
What’s the Same Regardless of Your Trade
Before looking at the differences, it’s worth being clear about what MTD treats identically for everyone. According to HMRC’s guidance on who needs to use MTD for Income Tax, the following rules apply uniformly:
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The qualifying income threshold is the same for everyone: over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027, over £20,000 from April 2028. Qualifying income is self-employment turnover plus UK property income, gross before expenses. Your trade doesn’t change the threshold — only the income figure matters. See our MTD qualifying income thresholds guide for the full breakdown. Use our MTD qualifying income calculator to check whether you need to register.
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The quarterly update deadlines are the same for everyone: 7 August, 7 November, 7 February, and 7 May. These follow the tax year quarters (6 April to 5 April), not calendar quarters. A plumber and an Etsy seller submit on the same dates. See our MTD quarterly updates guide for what each update contains.
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The final declaration deadline is 31 January after the tax year ends — the same as the old Self Assessment deadline. See our MTD vs Self Assessment guide for the full comparison.
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The penalty regime is the same for everyone: points-based for late submissions, percentage-based for late payment. The 2026/27 grace period for late quarterly updates applies regardless of trade. See our MTD penalties guide for the full rules.
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The payment schedule doesn’t change: tax is due by 31 January (balancing payment plus first Payment on Account) and 31 July (second Payment on Account). MTD changes how you report, not when you pay. See our payment on account explained guide.
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The digital record-keeping requirement is the same: each transaction needs a date, an amount, and whether it’s income or an expense. Over £90,000 turnover, you need fuller categorisation. Under £90,000, three-line accounts (total income, total expenses) are sufficient. This threshold is per income source, not per person.
What differs is the practical work of meeting these requirements — how you capture records, which expenses you track, and which software fits your workflow. That’s where the profession-specific guides below come in.
How Record-Keeping Differs by Trade Type
The MTD record-keeping requirement is the same — a digital record of each transaction — but the source of those transactions varies enormously by trade. This shapes which software and workflow fit best.
Tradespeople buy materials on site, often with cash or a business debit card, and get paper receipts from builders’ merchants. The record-keeping challenge is capturing those receipts digitally before they’re lost. Mobile receipt-capture apps (photograph the receipt, the app extracts the data) are the natural fit. The expense categories that matter most are materials, vehicle costs, CIS deductions, and tools. See our MTD for tradespeople guide for the full breakdown.
Online sellers have the opposite problem: too much digital data, spread across multiple platforms. An Etsy seller might also sell on eBay and Vinted, with each platform exporting transaction reports in a different format. The record-keeping challenge is consolidating platform data into one set of MTD records — recording gross sales, platform fees as expenses, postage costs, stock purchases, and refunds. Spreadsheet bridging works well here because platforms already export digital reports. See our MTD for online sellers guide.
Airbnb hosts face a unique issue: the income arrives as a net payout from the platform, but HMRC wants the gross booking value. A £100 booking might arrive as £81 after Airbnb’s service fee and occupancy tax. Under MTD, you record £100 as income and the £19 as expenses/fees — not £81 as income. This requires software that can split platform payouts correctly. Cleaning costs, linen, and utilities are the main expense categories. See our MTD for Airbnb hosts guide and our practical how to record Airbnb income guide.
Gig economy workers (Uber, Deliveroo, Just Eat) have income that arrives as platform earnings, often with multiple short trips per day. The record-keeping challenge is tracking mileage and vehicle costs against platform income. Most gig workers have one trade (delivery/ride-hail) even if they work across multiple platforms. See our gig economy tax UK guide.
How to Choose Software by Trade Type
HMRC’s list of MTD-compatible software includes dozens of products, but not all of them fit every trade equally well. The decision comes down to where your records originate and how complex your expenses are.
If your records originate on paper (tradespeople, cash-based businesses): choose software with strong mobile receipt capture. FreeAgent, Xero, and QuickBooks all have mobile apps that photograph receipts and extract the data. The goal is to capture the receipt at the point of purchase, not at the end of the month when it’s faded. For the full comparison of options and prices, see our cheapest MTD software for sole traders guide.
If your records originate as digital exports (online sellers, platform-based businesses): spreadsheet bridging is often the cheapest and most natural fit. Platforms like Etsy and Amazon export transaction reports as CSV files. You import these into a structured spreadsheet, use formulas to total income and expenses, and bridging software submits the totals to HMRC. This avoids learning full accounting software when your data is already in a structured format. See our can I use spreadsheets for MTD guide for the bridging software options.
If your records originate as bank transactions (most sole traders with a business account): choose accounting software with bank feeds. The software imports transactions automatically, and you categorise each one as income or an expense. This is the lowest-effort approach once set up. Starling, Monzo, and Mettle offer built-in MTD filing from the banking app itself; other accounts feed into external software like FreeAgent, Xero, or QuickBooks. See our do I need a business bank account for MTD guide for how the bank feed decision works.
If you have multiple trades: you need software that can handle multiple income sources with separate quarterly updates per trade. Not all entry-level software supports this well. See our MTD with multiple trades guide for the full rules and software recommendations.
What Counts as Qualifying Income by Trade
The qualifying income threshold is the same for everyone, but what counts toward it differs by trade type. This matters because it determines whether you’re in scope at all.
Self-employment income is your turnover — gross sales before expenses. For a tradesperson, that’s the full invoice value including materials. For an online seller, it’s gross sales before platform fees. For a gig economy worker, it’s gross platform earnings before vehicle costs. The key point: you don’t subtract expenses before checking the threshold. A plumber with £55,000 turnover and £40,000 expenses is over the £50,000 threshold — the £15,000 profit is irrelevant for the scope test.
UK property income is gross rental income before expenses. For an Airbnb host, that’s the gross booking value, not the net payout. For a traditional landlord, it’s the annual rent received. See our MTD for landlords and non-residents guide for the property-specific rules.
What doesn’t count: PAYE income, dividends, pensions, savings interest, and foreign income (unless it’s foreign property income). A consultant with a £70,000 PAYE job and £15,000 self-employment income has qualifying income of £15,000 — below the threshold. The PAYE income is irrelevant. See our MTD qualifying income thresholds guide for the full list of what’s included and excluded.
Profession-Specific MTD Guides
MTD for Tradespeople
Builders, electricians, plumbers, plasterers and other trades face specific MTD challenges: cash jobs, receipts bought on site, materials from multiple merchants, CIS deductions, and vehicle costs between jobs. The detailed guide covers what counts as qualifying income when you have CIS deductions, how to capture receipts on the go, the expense categories that matter most for trades, and which software handles mobile receipt capture well. See our MTD for tradespeople guide.
MTD for Online Sellers
Etsy, eBay, Vinted, Amazon and Depop sellers have a different MTD workflow. Platform fees, postage costs, stock purchases and refunds all need to be recorded correctly, and many sellers trade across multiple platforms simultaneously. The detailed guide covers what counts as gross income when platforms deduct fees, how to import platform transaction reports, the expense categories that matter for online selling, and why spreadsheet bridging can work well for this group. See our MTD for online sellers guide.
MTD for Airbnb Hosts
Airbnb income is UK property income for most hosts, which means it counts toward your MTD qualifying income. The quirks are recording gross booking value (not net payouts), handling cleaning fees and occupancy taxes, and the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime. The detailed guide covers whether MTD applies to your Airbnb income, what counts as qualifying income for short-term lets, and how your software handles quarterly updates for property income. For the practical step-by-step on recording Airbnb payouts in Xero, see our existing how to record Airbnb income guide. See our MTD for Airbnb hosts guide.
MTD for Gig Economy Workers
Delivery drivers (Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats) and ride-hail drivers (Uber, Bolt) are already covered in our existing gig economy tax guide, which includes an MTD section explaining how the rules apply to platform-based earnings. See our gig economy tax UK guide.
A Worked Example: Two Trades, One Threshold
To see how the rules play out across trades, consider two sole traders:
Sarah is an electrician with £58,000 turnover in 2025/26. She buys materials from builders’ merchants, drives between jobs, and has CIS deductions on some contracts. Her qualifying income is £58,000 (gross turnover before expenses). She’s over the £50,000 threshold, so she must use MTD from 6 April 2026. She needs software with mobile receipt capture because her receipts are paper-based and bought on site. Her main expense categories are materials, vehicle costs, and tools.
James is an Etsy seller with £42,000 in gross sales in 2025/26. After Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee, postage, and stock costs, his profit is around £18,000. His qualifying income is £42,000 (gross sales before expenses) — under the £50,000 threshold, so he’s not in scope for 2026/27. But if his gross sales rise above £50,000 in 2026/27, he’s in scope from 6 April 2027 (the £30,000 threshold applies from that date). His record-keeping challenge is consolidating Etsy’s transaction exports into MTD records — spreadsheet bridging is a natural fit.
Same rules, different practical preparation. That’s why the profession-specific guides exist.
The Bottom Line
MTD does not care what you do — the rules are the same. The thresholds, deadlines, penalties, and digital record-keeping requirements are identical across all trades. But the practical preparation is very different: where your records originate (paper receipts, platform exports, bank feeds), which expenses matter, and which software fits your workflow all depend on what you do. Choose the guide that matches your trade for the specific record-keeping, expense and software advice that applies to you.
For the complete MTD overview, see our Making Tax Digital guide. To check whether you are in scope, see MTD qualifying income thresholds. For the full MTD filing process, see our how to file MTD guide. For the full jargon buster, see our HMRC jargon buster.