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HMRC just quietly killed Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax and most limited company directors still don't know it. After years of warnings, mandatory software deadlines, and compliance anxiety, MTD for CT has been withdrawn with no replacement date announced. If you've been dreading quarterly digital reporting obligations that never came, you're not imagining it.
But here's what you can't afford to ignore: your company may still have live MTD obligations right now depending on your circumstances and the rules governing what applies are poorly communicated and frequently misunderstood.
This guide tells you exactly where you stand, what changed, and the specific steps to stay compliant in 2026 without wasting time preparing for requirements that no longer exist.
Which MTD rules actually apply to my company?
MTD only applies partly. That's the honest answer. One regime has gone, one is still very much alive, and one depends entirely on what you earn outside the company.
VAT. Still mandatory for all VAT-registered companies.
The CT600. The return itself hasn't changed, but how you file it has. HMRC's free route is gone, so commercial software is now the only option for most.
Income Tax. This one is personal. It can apply to you as a director if you take in rental or self-employment income in your own name, because the regime taxes people, not companies.
Do I still need to file a CT600, and how has it changed?
No digital records to keep for corporation tax. No quarterly submissions. Your company files its CT600, the corporation tax return, once per accounting period, exactly as before. Tax stays due nine months and one day after that accounting period ends, under the Corporation Tax Act 2009. So far, so unchanged.
The catch sits elsewhere. HMRC has shut down its free Company Accounts and Tax Online service, the joint tool a lot of small companies leaned on to file the CT600 and accounts without paying for software. If that was you, you'll feel this one.
What it means in practice:
Accountant files for you? They're already on commercial software. Nothing to do.
Filed it yourself through the free service? You'll need approved commercial software for the next return.
There are free options for micro-entities, and several tools built specifically for small companies.
Paper filing survives only in narrow cases, such as digitally excluded companies with prior HMRC approval.
What does MTD for VAT mean for my company now?
MTD for VAT has been mandatory since April 2022, under regulations sitting beneath the VAT Act 1994. If your company is VAT-registered, none of this is new to you. You're already required to:
Keep digital records of every VAT transaction.
File returns through MTD-compatible software that talks directly to HMRC's API.
Hold digital links between your records and your submission. No copying figures across by hand.
Nothing major has shifted this time round. The one thing worth a check is whether your software is still current, especially if you're on a flat rate scheme, using partial exemption, or dealing with anything more tangled than standard-rated sales.
Returns are still due one month and seven days after the VAT period ends. Miss deadlines and you're into a points-based penalty system with separate interest charges on late payment, which we unpack properly in our guide to MTD and VAT penalties.
Does MTD for Income Tax apply to me as a director?
This is where the confusion lives, so it's worth slowing down.
MTD for Income Tax is aimed at individuals. Not companies. Your company submits nothing under it, ever. You only get pulled in through money that lands in your own name, and plenty of directors misread exactly this point.
The instinct is to assume salary and dividends push you over some line. They don't. Here's the actual split.
Doesn't count:
Your salary from the company
Dividends from the company
PAYE income from any employment
Savings interest, pension income, capital gains
Does count, this is your qualifying income:
Gross self-employment turnover, before you take off any expenses
Gross rental income from property you own personally, again before expenses
If those add up to more than the threshold for the year, the obligations kick in: digital records, quarterly updates, and a final declaration that replaces your usual Self Assessment return.
The first stage, for qualifying income over £50,000, has been running since 6 April 2026, and the threshold steps down again over the next two tax years.
Rather than reproduce the full table here, the income bands, quarterly deadlines and the first-year penalty position all live in our guide to MTD for Income Tax for landlords and the self-employed.
Worked Example
Say you pay yourself £12,570 in salary and £40,000 in dividends, and on the side you let one property that brings in £22,000 of rent. Your qualifying income isn't £52,570 or £75,000. It's £22,000. The salary and dividends simply aren't in the calculation. And £22,000 sits under the £50,000 mark that took effect in April 2026, so you're outside the regime for now, though a lower future threshold could change that.
What software handles the rental side of your return?
Say you're over the threshold and the income is rental. The quarterly filing is already live, not looming, and this is precisely the job RentalBux was built to do.
It's HMRC-recognised MTD software for landlords and the self-employed, and it handles the parts that eat your evenings:
Digital records of rent and expenses, kept as you go
Every transaction mapped to HMRC's property categories
Joint ownership split automatically between owners
Quarterly updates and the final declaration filed straight to HMRC
If you run property through a limited company, it covers limited company portfolios too, so per-property income and costs sit in one place instead of scattered across spreadsheets.
Who's exempt?
Not many people, is the blunt answer. HMRC grants exemptions only where digital tools aren't reasonably practical, along lines such as:
Age or a disability that makes digital record-keeping genuinely impractical
No reliable internet where you are
A sincere religious objection to filing electronically
These cover both VAT and Income Tax. None of them is automatic, and you have to apply, either through your HMRC online account or the MTD helpline. Our guide to MTD exemptions walks through how HMRC weighs it up.
So what do I actually need to do?
Depends which of these is you:
VAT-registered? Check your software is still HMRC-recognised, up to date, and holding proper digital links.
Been self-filing the CT600 for free? Get commercial software sorted before your next deadline.
Rental or self-employment income of your own? Work out your gross qualifying income now. Over £50,000 and you've been in MTD for Income Tax since April 2026, with the first quarterly update for 2026 to 2027 due on 7 August 2026. Under it, and the guide above tells you which later threshold catches you.
