If you drive for more than one app, HMRC adds all of it together. Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Amazon Flex, a bit of private hire on the weekend, it's all self-employment income and it all goes towards one figure. If that figure was over £30,000 in the 2025/26 tax year, you're in Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027. It doesn't matter that no single app paid you anywhere near that.

How HMRC works out your figure

HMRC calls it your qualifying income. It's your gross self-employment income plus any gross rent, for the whole tax year. Gross means before expenses. So your fuel, your insurance and your phone don't come off first.

Wages from a PAYE job don't count. Neither do pensions or dividends. If you work in a warehouse during the week and do Uber Eats at night, only the Uber Eats money goes into the test.

Say you drove for three apps in 2025/26 and they paid you this, before fees:

  • Deliveroo: £14,000
  • Uber Eats: £9,000
  • Amazon Flex: £8,500

That's £31,500. Each app on its own looks small. Together it's over the line, so this driver starts MTD in April 2027. The line drops again after that. Over £20,000 in 2026/27 means you're in from 6 April 2028.

Is my income what lands in my bank?

Usually not, and this is where people get caught. On some apps the money in your bank is what's left after the app has taken its fee. The figure HMRC wants is your turnover, which can be the bigger number before that fee comes off. The fee then goes in as an expense.

So a driver who sees £27,000 arrive in their account over the year can still be over £30,000 on paper. Check the annual tax summary in each app, not your bank balance.

HMRC already has the numbers

Since 1 January 2024 digital platforms have had to collect what they pay their sellers and report it to HMRC. That covers apps where you sell a service through the platform, and delivery and taxi work is a service. The first reports went in by 31 January 2025. Every January the platform reports the previous calendar year.

There's a small-seller exemption for people selling a few things online, but it's for goods only. It doesn't cover services, so it doesn't help a driver.

The app also has to send you a copy of what it reported. Look out for it in your email or the app's tax section. One snag: the platform reports by calendar year, January to December, and your tax return runs 6 April to 5 April. The two figures won't match, and that's normal. But if your tax return comes in well below what three apps told HMRC, HMRC can see the gap.

What to download before April 2027

Do this now, while you can still log in and the history is easy to find.

  • The annual tax summary or earnings statement from every app, for 2024/25 and 2025/26
  • Weekly statements showing gross fares, tips and the app's fee
  • The copy of the platform report each app sends you
  • Your mileage. The app log helps, but check it includes the drive from home to your first pickup at 6am. If it doesn't, keep your own record too

Save them in one folder, one subfolder per app. If you stop using an app, download everything before you delete your account.

If this all sounds like too many apps and too many PDFs, that's the bit we do. Send us the statements and the receipts as photos on WhatsApp, and we'll work out your figure, tell you whether you're in, and keep the records for MTD. Have a look at how we work with drivers and couriers, our Making Tax Digital page and pricing, or get in touch and Alex or Anca will check your figure with you.

Sources: HMRC, Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and Selling goods or services on a digital platform. Correct as at October 2026.