Making Tax Digital for locum pharmacists

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes how self-employed people keep records and report to HMRC. Instead of one tax return a year, you keep digital records, send a short update every quarter, and then submit your tax return. It is being phased in by income, and it is reaching locum pharmacists now.

When it applies to you

Qualifying income is your turnover, not your profit: self-employment and property income before expenses. A salary from an employed post does not count. So a locum invoicing £32,000 a year with £4,000 of expenses is over the £30,000 line, and in MTD from April 2027.

What you have to do

1. Keep digital records of your income and expenses, in software that works with MTD or in a spreadsheet connected to it through bridging software.
2. Send a quarterly update of your income and expenses totals. The standard quarters run from 6 April, and each update is due by the 7th of the month after the quarter ends:
   • 6 April to 5 July, by 7 August
   • 6 April to 5 October, by 7 November
   • 6 April to 5 January, by 7 February
   • 6 April to 5 April, by 7 May
   You can choose calendar quarters (1 April to 30 June and so on) instead, with the same deadlines.
3. Submit your tax return by 31 January, through MTD-compatible software, adding anything the quarterly updates did not cover.

The quarterly updates are running totals for the year so far, and you can correct earlier figures in a later update. No tax is paid quarterly: payment dates stay the same.

Penalties

MTD uses a points system for late submissions. HMRC has said that no penalty points will be given for late quarterly updates in the 2026/27 tax year, the first year. Updates are still required, and points for a late tax return, and penalties for late payment, still apply.

Exemptions

You may be able to apply for an exemption if it is not reasonable for you to use digital tools, for example because of age, disability or where you live. Ask HMRC.