Both PAYE salary fields are shown for context only. they're never added to your MTD qualifying income.
This question comes up most often from people with a "side hustle" alongside a full-time job. a part-time consultancy, a small Etsy shop, a rental property, or freelance work done evenings and weekends. The worry is usually:"my salary is already quite high. does that push me over the MTD threshold when combined with my side income?" The answer is reassuring: no, it doesn't.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax exists to bring self-employment and UK property rental income into more frequent digital reporting. Before MTD, HMRC received this information only once a year via Self Assessment.
PAYE income has never had this "visibility gap." Your employer reports your salary to HMRC in real time, every payday, through Real Time Information (RTI). a system that has existed since 2013. HMRC already has complete, up-to-date visibility of your PAYE income. There is nothing for MTD to improve here, so PAYE income is entirely excluded from the MTD threshold calculation.
£15,000 is below the £20,000 Phase 3 threshold. the lowest confirmed. The £95,000 salary plays no role in this assessment.
£52,000 gross rental income alone exceeds the £50,000 Phase 1 threshold. The salary is irrelevant. even a £20,000 salary would give the same result.
£34,000 falls in the £30,000–£50,000 Phase 2 band, based on the 2025–26 assessment year. The combined total of £69,000 is never calculated. only the £34,000 self-employment figure matters.
£19,500 gig income is just under the £20,000 Phase 3 threshold. Worth monitoring. a small increase next year could bring this into Phase 3 (April 2028, based on 2026–27 income).
All PAYE income is excluded regardless of how many jobs it comes from or how it totals. With £0 self-employment and £0 rental income, this person has £0 MTD qualifying income.
Everything processed through your employer's PAYE payroll system is excluded. not just base salary. This includes:
If it appears on your P60 or payslip as employment income, it is PAYE income, and it is excluded from MTD qualifying income, regardless of size.
There is no special calculation for multiple PAYE jobs. Each employer reports your earnings to HMRC under RTI. Whether you have one job, two jobs, or five jobs, all of your PAYE income across all employments is excluded from MTD qualifying income. The only thing that matters for MTD is whether you separately have self-employment income or UK rental income above the relevant threshold.
If your self-employment or rental income puts you in MTD, your PAYE income continues to be reported by your employer through payroll, exactly as before. completely separate from your MTD quarterly updates. At year-end, your PAYE income (as shown on your P60) is added to your Final Declaration alongside your quarterly-reported trading or property income, to calculate your overall tax position.
No. PAYE employment income is explicitly excluded from the MTD for Income Tax qualifying income calculation, regardless of how high the salary is. Only self-employment income and UK property rental income count.
Not currently. Your £90,000 PAYE salary does not count. Your £15,000 self-employment side income is below the £20,000 Phase 3 threshold (the lowest confirmed), so you are not yet in scope under any confirmed phase.
No. All PAYE employment income is excluded from MTD regardless of how many jobs you have or how the total combines. If you have two PAYE jobs totalling £80,000 and no self-employment or rental income, you have £0 qualifying income for MTD.
No. Bonuses, car allowances, benefits in kind, and any other form of employment remuneration processed through PAYE are excluded from MTD qualifying income, just like base salary.
Your MTD threshold is based solely on your gross UK rental income. your PAYE salary is not added to it and does not affect the calculation in any way. A PAYE employee with £52,000 gross rental income is in Phase 1 regardless of their salary level.
If you have self-employment or rental income alongside your job, our free calculator tells you exactly where you stand. based only on the income that matters.
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