HMRC spares 661 from Making Tax Digital as rollout nears

The UK tax collector has exempted 661 people from moving to quarterly software-based reporting under its Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme, about half the number who have applied.

UK treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said that as of January 31, HM Revenue and Customs had received 1,271 applications for MTD exemption, decided on 881, turned down 220, and allowed 661.

"Where a taxpayer cannot use MTD for Income Tax, for example due to age or disability, they can apply for exemption from the MTD requirements," he said in a written parliamentary answer to independent MP James McMurdock.

Those exempted so far make up less than 0.1 percent of the 780,000 sole traders and landlords who by virtue of making more than £50,000 in the 2024-25 tax year must shift to MTD for Income Tax for the tax year starting on April 6.

This requires reports every three ...