Treasury written question – answered at on 14 November 2025.
James Cleverly
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
To ask the Chancellor of the exchequer, whether local councillors will be included in Making Tax Digital scheme.
James Cleverly
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
To ask the Chancellor of the exchequer, whether her Department plans to allow councillors to submit their expenses in the Making Tax Digital scheme.
Dan Tomlinson
The Exchequer Secretary
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax will be introduced from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. Qualifying income is the total income from self-employment and property, assessed before expenses.
Local Authority councillors are office holders rather than sole traders. Their income and allowances do not count towards qualifying income for the purposes of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
Where a councillor has additional qualifying income from self-employment or property, they will need to comply where that income exceeds the MTD thresholds.
If a councillor is required to use MTD, and where expenses are claimed through a return, the councillor would make that claim as part of the end-of-year tax return through their MTD software.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
