Checked against GOV.UK on 14 August 2026 · Self Assessment contact, registration and payment pages read 22 September 2026 · Applies from 6 April 2026 onwards.
“MTD is simply using a computer to supply hmrc with the same information you currently supply by paper, and quarterly.”
We hear this most. a landlord answering a frightened one, OpenRent Community forum, 31 July 2026 — someone in the same position as you.
If Making Tax Digital applies to you, three dates matter and nothing else does. Your next quarterly update is due 7 November 2026, and because updates are cumulative it covers 6 April to 5 October 2026 — so it also catches up 7 August 2026 if you missed it. Your tax return for 2026 to 2027 is due 31 January 2028, and that one is still in the points system. And from September 2026 HMRC has been signing people up itself, in stages, if they had not signed up.
You are not alone, and this is the measured version of that sentence. HMRC put 864,000 sole traders and landlords in scope for this tax year (HMRC, 5 February 2026), and reported on 12 August 2026 that 436,000 had sent a first quarterly update and 570,000 had signed up. We have not subtracted one from the other to make a "how many are behind" headline — they were published six months apart and count different things — but you can see the size of the room you are standing in.
twenty minutes, tonight, with last year's tax return in front of you
None of those three steps costs money. Anyone charging you to do them is selling you something HMRC gives away.
Where these come from, on GOV.UK: quarterly updates and their deadlines · the tax return · who has to use MTD, and when · working out qualifying income · the recognised-software finder · what to do if HMRC signed you up.
HMRC publishes the official list of software recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and its own guidance says plainly that “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs”. We drove that finder ourselves on 1 September 2026 and it returns recognised products costing £0 — for sole traders and for landlords, including bridging tools that submit straight from a spreadsheet you already keep. We take no commission from any of them, we rank none of them, and this site carries no affiliate links.
HMRC's official software finder (gov.uk) · how bridging software works · the free two-number check · your own four dates
Signing up for Making Tax Digital is free at GOV.UK. So is the checker on this page, and so is every answer on this site.
Two HMRC accounts take Self Assessment payments, and the thing that decides whether your money lands against your bill is not which one you pick but the reference you put with it. All of it is published on one GOV.UK page.
| Sort code | Account number | Account name |
|---|---|---|
| 08 32 10 | 12001039 | HMRC Cumbernauld |
| 08 32 10 | 12001020 | HMRC Shipley |
Your bill tells you which account to pay into. GOV.UK says that if you do not have a bill, or you are not sure, you can pay into either account. Read from the GOV.UK bank transfer page.
| BIC | IBAN | Account name |
|---|---|---|
| BARCGB22 | GB62 BARC 2011 4770 2976 90 | HMRC Cumbernauld |
| BARCGB22 | GB03 BARC 2011 4783 9776 92 | HMRC Shipley |
GOV.UK notes that some banks charge if you do not pay in pounds sterling.
Use your 11-character payment reference: your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference followed by the letter K.
GOV.UK says that if you use the wrong reference number your payment may be delayed or used to pay a different tax bill, and that you contact Self Assessment general enquiries to ask for the payment to be moved. That contact page carries the number.
31 January for any tax owed for the previous tax year and your first payment on account, and 31 July for the second payment on account. GOV.UK payment guidance states both. If a deadline falls at a weekend or on a bank holiday, GOV.UK says the payment must reach HMRC on the last working day before, unless you pay by Faster Payments or by card.
Read from the bank transfer page and the payment overview.
Interest is charged on the amount owed, and late payment penalties of 5% of the tax unpaid are charged at 30 days, at 6 months and at 12 months. The GOV.UK penalties guidance sets out both, and says a penalty itself must be paid within 30 days of the date on the penalty notice.
If the bill is the problem rather than the date, GOV.UK points at help for people who cannot pay on time, and you can pay in instalments before the deadline.
HMRC guidance changes how records are kept and how often you report, not when you pay. Our own page on that split: Making Tax Digital against Self Assessment.
GOV.UK publishes sort code 08 32 10 for both HMRC accounts.
Your bill tells you which account to pay into. GOV.UK says that if you do not have a bill, or you are not sure, you can pay into either account.
Use your 11-character payment reference: your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference followed by the letter K.
Everything above is free and stays free. What it cannot do is hand you a record: a written, ticked list of what you have done about Making Tax Digital and what is still open, in the order HMRC asks for it. That is what the checklist is, it is one payment, and there is a 14-day no-questions guarantee.
Building software instead? Every answer on this site is free as JSON at /api/answers, and the whole corpus in one pull is a paid door with prepaid credit: the terms are on /llms.txt.
Andrew at Axion Labs
I built this site because my own first read of the MTD guidance took an afternoon and left me less sure than when I started. The rules aren't secret — they're all on GOV.UK — they're just spread across a dozen pages, and the answer to one ordinary question is usually split across four of them. So: one question, one page, sources at the bottom, and the date I checked them. If something here reads as wrong to you, it might be. Tell me and I'll fix it that day.
General information about UK tax rules, not tax advice. Your own circumstances and HMRC's official guidance govern your position. If you are unsure, speak to an accountant or contact HMRC. Tax rules change — if this page is more than a few months old, check the GOV.UK pages linked above. Found an error? Email hello@getaxionlabs.com and we will correct it.
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