Checked against GOV.UK on 20 October 2026 · deadline, penalty, payment and interest pages read 2 November 2026 · Applies from 6 April 2026 onwards.
“If it is over £50k, then you have about 8 days to submit the first MTD return, so you are running late.”
We hear this most. a landlord counting the days for someone else, OpenRent Community forum, 31 July 2026 — someone in the same position as you.
Here are the dates, in the order they arrive. Your next quarterly update is due 7 February 2027, and because updates are cumulative it covers 6 April 2026 to 5 January 2027. Missed an earlier one? GOV.UK does not say, on the pages we read, that a later update closes it, so check the list in your HMRC online account and send any that are still open. 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.
one sitting, tonight, with your HMRC online account open
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 20 October 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.
This is the return for the tax year that ended on 5 April 2026. The date is the same as every year, but this time it falls on a Sunday, the old penalties still apply to it, and the income on it decides whether Making Tax Digital starts for you in April 2027.
| Date | What is due | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| 5 October 2026 | Tell HMRC you need to file, if you are new to Self Assessment | Passed |
| 31 October 2026 | Paper return: HMRC had to receive it by this date | Passed |
| 30 December 2026 | File online by this date if you want what you owe collected through your tax code | Still ahead |
| 31 January 2027 (Sunday) | File online by 11:59pm, and pay what you owe, including your first payment on account if you make them | The deadline |
| 31 July | Second payment on account, if you make payments on account | Still ahead |
All of these are on GOV.UK's Self Assessment deadlines page, read on 2 November 2026. The online return and the payment are both due by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027.
The deadlines page gives 11:59pm on 31 January 2027 for the return and says nothing about moving it. For the payment, GOV.UK's payment page says: If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC on the last working day before
. That does not apply to Faster Payments or to debit or credit card payments.
By calendar arithmetic, the last working day before 31 January 2027 is Friday 29 January 2027. A Bacs transfer or a cheque has to have reached HMRC by then; a Faster Payment or a card payment can still be made on the day.
There are two sets of penalties, one for a late return and one for paying late, and they run side by side. We took both from GOV.UK's Self Assessment penalties page, read on 2 November 2026.
| How late | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 1 day late | £100 |
| 3 months late | £10 a day, up to £900 |
| 6 months late | 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater |
| 12 months late | 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, again |
You pay each line on top of the ones before it.
| How late | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 30 days late | 5% of the tax unpaid |
| 6 months late | 5% of the tax unpaid |
| 12 months late | 5% of the tax unpaid |
If you pay late, interest is charged on the amount you owe as well. HMRC's late payment interest rate is 7.75% a year from 9 January 2026, set at the Bank of England base rate plus 4%, a margin that applies from 6 April 2025, so it moves when the base rate does. That is from HMRC's interest rates page, last updated 23 December 2025, which we read on 2 November 2026.
We worked the next card by hand against the two tables above. These are illustrative figures in a worked example: a made-up bill, not anyone's real one.
The late return costs £100 at once, then £10 a day for 90 days (£900), then at 6 months the greater of 5% of £2,000 (£100) and £300, which is £300: £1,300 in all.
Paying late adds 5% at 30 days and 5% at 6 months, £100 each: £200.
That is £1,500 together, plus interest on the £2,000.
| Return | Penalty rules |
|---|---|
| 2025 to 2026, due 31 January 2027 | The current penalties above, for everyone. That includes people already using Making Tax Digital: HMRC's own example is someone who started on 6 April 2026, whose 2025 to 2026 return is still on the current penalties. |
| Later returns | HMRC's guidance says from April 2027, the new penalties will apply to everyone who submits a personal Self Assessment tax return. Those are the points-based penalties. |
Both lines are from HMRC's Making Tax Digital penalties guidance, read on 2 November 2026. How the new points work: the points system and the new late payment rules.
It decides it. If your qualifying income on the 2025 to 2026 return is over £30,000, you use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027. Qualifying income is your gross self-employment income plus your gross property income, before expenses: HMRC's guidance on who has to use it, and when. MTD does not replace this return; you file it the ordinary way.
The free two-number check does the sum in your browser and sends nothing anywhere. More on the line itself: the £30,000 threshold for April 2027, and how the two systems fit together: MTD and Self Assessment.
HMRC says: A Time to Pay arrangement cannot be set up until a Self Assessment return has been filed.
After you file, a bill of up to £30,000 can be spread into monthly instalments online without contacting HMRC; above that, or for longer to pay, you contact HMRC directly. That is from HMRC's release on paying in instalments, read on 2 November 2026.
If you had a reasonable excuse, you can appeal a penalty. GOV.UK's examples include a partner or close relative died shortly before the deadline; an unexpected stay in hospital; a serious or life-threatening illness; your computer or software failed while you were preparing your online return; problems with HMRC's online services; a fire, flood or theft; postal delays you could not have predicted; delays related to a disability or mental illness. A missing reminder from HMRC is on its list of things that will not be accepted.
You will find the account details on HMRC Self Assessment bank account details, and what happens if you registered late on register for Self Assessment. The quarterly dates that start with MTD are on the MTD deadlines, and why a late update costs nothing in the first year is on no penalties in the first year.
GOV.UK's deadlines page gives 11:59pm on 31 January 2027 and says nothing about moving it. For payments, GOV.UK says: if the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC on the last working day before. That does not apply to Faster Payments or card payments. Source: Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines; Pay your Self Assessment tax bill; Calendar arithmetic.
It depends on how you pay. GOV.UK says a payment due on a weekend must reach HMRC on the last working day before, which for 31 January 2027 is Friday 29 January 2027. That rule does not apply to Faster Payments or to debit or credit card payments. Source: Pay your Self Assessment tax bill; Calendar arithmetic.
GOV.UK's penalties page sets the £100 on the return being late and makes no exception for a return with nothing to pay. The 6 and 12 month penalties also have a floor: 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater. Source: Self Assessment tax returns: Penalties.
The GOV.UK deadline is for the return itself: submitted online by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027. Handing over papers is not on that page as a way to meet it, so ask your accountant for the date they submitted. Source: Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines.
Yes. GOV.UK says you can file the 2025 to 2026 return online from 6 April 2026, and the payment deadline is still 11:59pm on 31 January 2027. Source: Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines.
31 January, with the rest of your bill, and a second deadline of 31 July if you make payments on account. Source: Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines; Pay your Self Assessment tax bill.
No. HMRC's MTD penalties guidance says the current penalties still apply to previous tax years, and gives this return as its example: someone using MTD from 6 April 2026 is on the current penalties for the 31 January 2027 deadline. Source: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
No. HMRC says a Time to Pay arrangement cannot be set up until a Self Assessment return has been filed. Source: HMRC offers time to help pay your tax bill.
No. GOV.UK lists not getting a reminder from HMRC among the things that will not be accepted as a reasonable excuse. Source: Tax appeals: Reasonable excuses.
Yes. HMRC sets it at the Bank of England base rate plus 4% (from 6 April 2025), so it moves when the base rate does. Check the rates page on the day you pay. Source: Rates and allowances: HMRC interest rates for late and early payments.
Everything above is free and stays free. What it cannot do is hand you a record: your own answers about Making Tax Digital, written down in one place. That is what the checklist is, a printable workbook. 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.
Axion Labs
The date is the same every year. What is different this time is that the return you file now is also the one HMRC reads to decide whether you start Making Tax Digital in April 2027, and it is still on the old penalty rules. We read every rule on this page on GOV.UK and wrote the date beside it, so you can check us rather than take our word. If something here reads as wrong to you, tell us and we'll fix it that day.
Sources re-checked 2 November 2026: 18 of 18 unchanged since we read them.
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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