Checked against GOV.UK on 14 August 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.
The single most common misunderstanding. Making Tax Digital does not abolish the tax return — it changes how the return is prepared and adds four in-year submissions in front of it.
Short version, so you can stop worrying and go and do something else: your Self Assessment tax return still exists, and it is still due by 31 January after the end of the tax year. Making Tax Digital does not abolish it, does not replace it, and does not mean paying tax four times a year. It changes where the return is prepared — in software rather than the old online form — and it puts four short summaries in front of it during the year.
| Self Assessment as you know it | The same year under MTD | |
|---|---|---|
| Records | Any records you like, including paper | Digital records of self-employment and property income and expenses, in compatible software |
| During the year | Nothing is due | Four quarterly updates — 7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May — per business |
| The return | One return, filed on HMRC's online form | One return, filed from the same software |
| Return deadline | 31 January | 31 January — unchanged |
| When you pay | 31 January and 31 July | Unchanged. Payments on account work as before |
| Categories | The Self Assessment income and expense categories | The same categories |
A quarterly update is a summary of totals by category, produced by your software. HMRC never sees an individual receipt, you make no accounting or tax adjustments before sending one, and it is not a tax return.
“You will pay tax quarterly.” No. Making Tax Digital does not change when tax is due or how it is paid. “There is no tax return any more.” No. There is one, on the same date. “It applies to everyone with a tax return.” No — only to sole traders and landlords over the qualifying-income threshold for their year. Employment, pension and dividend income are outside it entirely, and partnerships are not in MTD at all yet.
Am I in it? Two numbers → What counts towards the threshold →
The return for the tax year before you start MTD is filed the ordinary way. For someone who started in April 2026: the 2025 to 2026 return goes in by 31 January 2027 as normal, and the first MTD return, for 2026 to 2027, is due by 31 January 2028.
HMRC adds what it already holds: employment (PAYE) income; student loan and postgraduate loan plan type, including repayments taken from PAYE; state, private and occupational pension income; other taxable state benefits; Construction Industry Scheme subcontractor deductions; Capital Gains Tax residential property disposals; and Marriage Allowance claims. You must check it before you submit.
Savings interest; your share of profit from a partnership as an individual partner; dividends, including from your own company; payrolled benefits in kind not subject to Class 1A National Insurance; and any other income or gains not added automatically.
The new penalties apply from the tax year you join MTD. Current penalties still apply to previous tax years — HMRC's example: joining on 6 April 2026 means current penalties apply to the 2025 to 2026 return deadline of 31 January 2027. The new penalties also do not apply to non-resident company, trust or estate, or partnership returns.
No. You still submit one tax return a year by 31 January. MTD adds quarterly updates and moves the return into compatible software.
Not in the tax return itself. You cannot claim a refund in your tax return using MTD for Income Tax.
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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