Before you sign up

Check if you can sign up voluntarily, choose and authorise your agent and software.

You’ll need to make sure you’re eligible to sign up voluntarily and decide which software to use for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

If you have an agent, they can help you with this.

Check that you can sign up voluntarily

You should check if you’re eligible to help us test Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

You’ll be asked some questions when you sign up to volunteer. This is to confirm if you’re able to help us test and develop the service.

Choose your software

You must use software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

There are a number of third party software providers you can choose from.

You should always check with the software provider to make sure their software suits your needs.

Authorise your agent

You can let an agent act on your behalf for any Making Tax Digital service.

Once authorised, your agent can:

  • sign up your business
  • use software to create and store digital records for you
  • use software to view, edit and send your data to us

If you have already authorised your agent to act for Self Assessment, you will not need to do this again for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Sign up

Signing up during the 2024 to 2025 tax year means you can test the service for a full tax cycle before it becomes mandatory.

You can join at any point in the tax year. You’ll just need to remember to create digital records from the beginning of the tax year and submit your missing quarterly updates.

Find out how to:

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll get a message on screen to confirm you’re ready to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. You will not receive an email but HMRC will write to you with confirmation.

If you have more than one business

If you have multiple income sources, you’ll need to sign up each one for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. For example, if you’re a landlord and a builder.

Authorise your software

You will need to connect your existing HMRC online services account to your compatible software to use for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

  1. Enter your Government Gateway user ID and password into your software.

  2. Follow the instructions for your software to complete setup.

Use the Government Gateway user ID from when you signed up for either:

  • Self Assessment
  • an agent services account if you’re an agent

You need to do this again every 18 months. Your software should remind you to re-connect. Ask your software provider if you need any help with this.

What to do next

Once you’ve signed up and connected your software, find out what you need to know and do after you sign up.