The Treasury is deferring the rollout of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax to "several taxpayer groups until further notice", according to the Budget document, as reported by Guido Fawkes and Xero.
Sole traders and landlords with income over £30,000 who must join in April 2027 will get no late-submission penalty points on quarterly updates in 2027-28. AccountingWEB reports that HMRC estimates this group at around 1,077,000 people.
Those with qualifying income over £50,000, who joined in April 2026, get no such easing. AccountingWEB reports they move onto the full points regime on 6 April 2027. Four points trigger a £200 penalty, and each further miss costs another £200.
Late payment penalties still apply to all MTD taxpayers. They are 4% of the tax owed at day 15, a further 4% at day 30, then 10% a year.
AccountingWEB also reports that from April 2029 payments on account are replaced by more regular automated in-year payments, with an option to pay through PAYE.
Guido Fawkes puts the wider HMRC compliance and debt package at £3.2bn, including £1.8bn from "timely payment" for self-assessment. That figure has not been independently checked against the official costings.