Your first year of Making Tax Digital, quarter by quarter
If you joined MTD for Income Tax in April, your second update is due on 7 November. A calendar for the rest of the year, and the habits that make each quarter easy.
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 in 2024/25 have been using MTD for Income Tax since 6 April 2026. Most sent their first update in August. Here is what the rest of the first year looks like.
The 2026/27 calendar for the standard quarters
- 7 Aug 2026First quarterly update (6 April to 5 July)
- 7 Nov 2026Second quarterly update (6 July to 5 October)
- 31 Jan 2027Balancing payment for 2025/26 and first payment on account for 2026/27
- 7 Feb 2027Third quarterly update (6 October to 5 January)
- 7 May 2027Fourth quarterly update (6 January to 5 April)
- 31 Jan 2028Tax return for 2026/27, and the tax due
An update is a summary, not a return
Each update is the running total of income and expenses for the quarter, sent from your software. Nothing is final until the tax return, so a figure you correct later simply flows into the next update. What matters is that the records behind it are kept as you go.
Habits that make it routine
- Connect your business bank account to your software, so transactions arrive on their own.
- Snap receipts when you get them; a shoebox in March is the thing MTD was built to end.
- Set a reminder for the 1st of the month after each quarter ends, not the 7th.
- Use the tax estimate your software shows after each update to set money aside.
Late quarterly updates do not earn penalty points for 2026/27, but they still need to be sent before you can file your tax return.
Sources
This insight is general information, not advice for your circumstances. Talk to us before acting on it.