… I have never used any accounting software and doubt I can …
— OpenRent Community forum, 31 July 2026
Across 2026/27 the notice lands 32 to 124 days after the day you stopped. This works out which.
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Checked against the current regulations and GOV.UK on 7 October 2026
Those two figures are ours, and this is how they are made: we ran the calculator above over all 365 days of the 2026 to 2027 tax year on standard update periods. The closest the notice deadline ever comes is 32 days — stop on 5 April 2027 and it is due 7 May 2027. The furthest is 124 days — stop on 6 July 2026 and it is due 7 November 2026. The deadlines themselves are SI 2026/336 regs 12 and 6(1)(b); the spread is arithmetic on them, and it is not a figure anyone else in this lane publishes.
Closing the business, selling the flat or leaving the UK does not quietly end Making Tax Digital. It starts a short, dated obligation with a deadline that is easy to miss — and the deadline is not the day you stopped.
You must tell HMRC the date your income source stopped no later than the quarterly update deadline for the update period that date falls in — and send one final, shortened update covering up to that date.
The Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026, reg 6(1) and reg 14.
“now I feel very stressed as I have never used any accounting software and doubt I can despite having had a computer for 34 years”
We hear this most. someone who has filed on paper since the 1990s, OpenRent Community forum, 31 July 2026 — someone in the same position as you.
If you are in, these are your dates — and they are the same whatever you do for a living. 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.
one sitting, tonight, with last year's return 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.
| Qualifying income | On the tax return for | You must use MTD from |
|---|---|---|
| Over £50,000 | 2024 to 2025 | 6 April 2026 — already in force |
| Over £30,000 | 2025 to 2026 | 6 April 2027 |
| Over £20,000 | 2026 to 2027 | 6 April 2028 |
| £20,000 or less | — | Automatically exempt, unless your circumstances change |
Qualifying income is gross self-employment income plus gross property income, before expenses, taken from the tax return you filed in the previous tax year. Sources: find out if and when you need to use MTD and work out your qualifying income (GOV.UK).
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.
Update periods are cumulative — every one runs from the start of your periods to the end of that quarter. Reg 14 cuts the last one off early: “The quarterly update period containing the digital termination date for a relevant activity of a relevant person ends with that digital termination date.” So a sole trader on standard periods who stops on 20 November 2026 files a final update covering 6 April to 20 November 2026, not 6 April to 5 January 2027.
Reg 6(1) says the digital termination date is the date of cessation, and that you “must give notice to HMRC of the digital termination date no later than the quarterly update deadline for the quarterly update period in which that date falls”. That is a real deadline with a real date on it. HMRC's practical route for giving that notice is phone or webchat, with post accepted; ICAEW published a clarification of HMRC's position on cessations in April 2026.
One exception: reg 6(2)(a) switches the notice duty off if you stopped before your MTD start date.
Reg 9(3): you are “not required to give HMRC a quarterly update in relation to a relevant activity for any quarterly update period after the period in which the digital termination date for that relevant activity falls”. Note the words relevant activity — this switches off updates for the source that ended, not for you. Another trade, or a property business you still hold, carries on with its own updates on the same four dates.
Reg 6(3) treats two things as a cessation even though nothing was sold or closed: a cessation deemed to occur under section 17(2)(a) of ITTOIA 2005 on becoming or ceasing to be UK resident, and — for an overseas property business — simply ceasing to be resident in the United Kingdom. An overseas property business is a separate business from your UK property business, so it can terminate on its own while your UK sources continue.
Yes — one final one. Under SI 2026/336 reg 14 the update period containing your termination date ends on that date, so your final quarterly update is short. Reg 9(3) then removes the obligation for every update period after it.
Yes, and it is easy to miss. Reg 6(1)(b) requires notice of the digital termination date no later than the quarterly update deadline for the period in which that date falls. Stop on 20 November 2026 on standard periods and your notice is due by 7 February 2027.
No. Reg 6(2)(a) disapplies the notice duty where the digital termination date is earlier than the digital start date. You will still need to deal with it on your Self Assessment return.
It can. Reg 6(3) treats a cessation deemed to occur under section 17(2)(a) of ITTOIA 2005 (becoming or ceasing to be UK resident) as a cessation, and for an overseas property business, ceasing to be UK resident is itself a cessation. Overseas property is a separate business with its own updates, so it can end while your UK sources continue.
No, and mixing them up is expensive. Cessation is a source ending. A source that continues at a lower level is a different route out — you can opt out once your qualifying income has been below the relevant threshold for three consecutive tax years.
Yes. Ceasing a source does not remove the Self Assessment return for the tax year in which it ceased, and that return deadline is unchanged at 31 January after the end of the tax year.
All four deadlines, with weekend flags → Income fallen instead? → What a missed deadline costs →
Everything above is free and stays free. The £7.99 MTD Readiness Checklist is a printable walk-through of your own position — scope, records, dates, and what to do when a source ends. No ads, no affiliate links, nothing charged for anything HMRC provides free.
These regulations came into force on 1 April 2026 and revoked the Income Tax (Digital Requirements) Regulations 2021. Guidance written against the 2021 regulations is describing revoked law.
Axion Labs
The thing worth saying plainly is that Making Tax Digital doesn't change what you owe or when you pay it. It changes how you report — same figures, sent four times instead of once, from software instead of a form. If you've filed your own return for years, you already know the hard part. What's left is picking a tool, and there are recognised ones that cost nothing.
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.
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