Register for self assessment HMRC

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.

Short answer

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.

What to do tonight

twenty minutes, tonight, with last year's tax return in front of you

Find your gross self-employment income and your gross property income on the tax return you filed last — the totals before any expenses. Those two numbers, added together, decide everything else.
Put them into the free checker on this site. It runs in your browser, asks for nothing else, and tells you whether you are in and from which April.
If it says you are in, write 7 November 2026 on your calendar tonight. That is the next thing that is actually due.

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.

The free route, before anyone sells you a subscription

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.

Registering is telling HMRC you need to send a tax return. It is free, it is done in one GOV.UK service, and the thing that catches people out is not the form but the date by which you have to have told them.

The deadline

You must tell HMRC by 5 October 2026 if you need to complete a tax return for the previous tax year and you have either not sent a tax return before, or registered before but did not need to send one for the tax year 2024 to 2025. The previous tax year started on 6 April 2025 and ended on 5 April 2026.

The GOV.UK registration service states the date, and the deadlines guidance states it again alongside the filing dates.

The steps, as GOV.UK sets them out

Check whether you need to send a return at all, before registering. The service links its own checker.
Register in the GOV.UK Self Assessment registration service. There is no fee and no third party you have to go through.
If you registered before but did not send a tax return last year, you may need to reactivate your Self Assessment account, and the service tells you how.
Wait for the Unique Taxpayer Reference, then sign in and file: file your Self Assessment tax return online.

How long the UTR takes

You will usually get your UTR by post around 15 days after you register. It takes longer if you live overseas. It is a 10-digit number, and GOV.UK lists where to find it once it exists: in your Personal Tax Account, in the HMRC app, or on a previous return or notice from HMRC.

If you register late

If you register after 5 October 2026, HMRC sends a letter or email with a different deadline to send the return by, which is 3 months from the date on that letter or email. The tax owed is still due by 31 January 2027. GOV.UK sets out that different deadline.

If you register after 5 October and do not pay all of your tax bill by 31 January, you may get a failure to notify penalty, based on the amount still left to pay. The penalties guidance calls it a failure to notify penalty and says it is based on the amount still left to pay.

Who moves on to Making Tax Digital, and when

Registering for Self Assessment is also the door into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: HMRC guidance says you must be registered for Self Assessment and have submitted a tax return in the last 2 years before you can sign up. Sole traders and landlords registered for Self Assessment whose qualifying income from self-employment or property is over the threshold for the tax year.

Qualifying income	On the tax return for	You use MTD from
over £50,000	2024 to 2025	6 April 2026
over £30,000	2025 to 2026	6 April 2027
over £20,000	2026 to 2027	6 April 2028

You still submit a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year before you start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Our own pages: what counts towards the threshold and the sign-up steps.

Questions people ask

When must I register for Self Assessment?

GOV.UK says to tell HMRC by 5 October following the tax year, if you have not sent a return before.

How long does the UTR take?

You will usually get your UTR by post around 15 days after you register. It takes longer if you live overseas.

Does registering cost anything?

No. The GOV.UK registration service is free, and so is signing up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

If you would rather have it written down

MTD Readiness Checklist – £7.99

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.

See what is on the list → or the catch-up page, free

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.

Sources

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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