MTD for Income Tax deadlines for the 2026 to 2027 tax year
The 2026 to 2027 tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. If you use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in that year, you send four quarterly updates and then a tax return, and each one has its own deadline. They are set out here in the order they fall.
Who joins MTD in 2026 to 2027
From 6 April 2026, MTD for Income Tax reaches people whose qualifying income is over £50,000. HMRC decides this from your qualifying income for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, which it reads from the Self Assessment return you sent for that year. If you are not sure where your own figures sit, the threshold calculator checks them against each step.
The deadlines in date order
You can use standard update periods, which follow the tax year, or calendar update periods, which run from 1 April and end on the last day of a month. The periods differ slightly, but the deadline for each update is the same either way.
| Deadline | What is due | Standard period | Calendar period | Penalty point if late |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quarterly update | 6 Apr to 5 Jul 2026 | 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2026 | No | |
| Second quarterly update | 6 Apr to 5 Oct 2026 | 1 Apr to 30 Sep 2026 | No | |
| Third quarterly update | 6 Apr 2026 to 5 Jan 2027 | 1 Apr to 31 Dec 2026 | No | |
| Fourth quarterly update | 6 Apr 2026 to 5 Apr 2027 | 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2027 | No | |
| Tax return for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and any tax still to pay for that year | The whole tax year | The whole tax year | Yes |
For the deadline on 7 November 2026, HMRC said it would offer phone support through the Self Assessment: general enquiries helpline that Saturday, from 9am to 3pm, for customers who needed help sending their quarterly update, with webchat open from 8am to 4pm as usual. That was a one-day opening for that deadline. You can read what HMRC said in HMRC: Agent Update issue 148.
Each update covers everything from the start of the tax year to the end of its period, so a later update can put right a figure in an earlier one. GOV.UK also says: “You can send a quarterly update any time after the end of the update period up to and including the day of the update deadline. You can also send an update up to 10 days before the end of the update period if you do not expect to record any further transactions.”
The 31 January deadline that falls during this tax year, on 31 January 2027, belongs to the 2025 to 2026 tax return rather than this one.
If your software cannot reach HMRC close to one of these dates, HMRC posts planned downtime and known problems with these services on its pages Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: service availability and issues and Self Assessment: service availability and issues. HMRC also lists every service that has unplanned downtime on one page, Find out which HMRC services are experiencing issues.
Penalty points in 2026 to 2027
There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. You still need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates before you can submit your tax return. The tax return deadline is different, because a late return still brings a penalty point, and when you reach four points you get a £200 penalty.
Paying late is dealt with separately, through late payment penalties and interest rather than points. The penalties guide explains how both work and what to do if you cannot pay on time. To see what a missed date might cost you, the MTD penalty estimator counts the points and works out a late payment penalty from the rules GOV.UK publishes.
Payments on account
If you make payments on account, GOV.UK gives their due dates as 31 January and 31 July. They are not MTD deadlines, and GOV.UK says that “Late payment penalties do not apply to any payments on account that you may need to make.”
The payment due on 31 January 2027 has its own guide, Paying your 31 January 2027 Self Assessment tax bill, which explains what that bill can include and what GOV.UK says to do if you cannot pay it.
Questions about the 2026 to 2027 deadlines
When are the MTD deadlines for the 2026 to 2027 tax year?
Of the four quarterly updates for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the first two were due on 7 August 2026 and 7 November 2026, and the other two are due on 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027. The tax return for that year, and any tax still to pay for it, is due on 31 January 2028.
Do calendar update periods change the deadlines?
The deadline for each update is the same whether you use standard or calendar update periods. Standard update periods follow the tax year, and calendar update periods end on the last day of a month, so the periods themselves differ slightly.
How early can I send a quarterly update?
GOV.UK says: “You can send a quarterly update any time after the end of the update period up to and including the day of the update deadline. You can also send an update up to 10 days before the end of the update period if you do not expect to record any further transactions.”
Is there a penalty point for a late quarterly update in 2026 to 2027?
There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. You still need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates before you can submit your tax return. GOV.UK also says: “You will need to send your quarterly updates before you are able to submit your tax return using software.” The tax return deadline is different, because a late return still brings a penalty point, and when you reach four points you get a £200 penalty.
Which tax return is due on 31 January 2027?
The tax return deadline that falls during the 2026 to 2027 tax year, on 31 January 2027, belongs to the 2025 to 2026 tax return rather than the 2026 to 2027 one.
Other tax years
- MTD deadlines for the 2027 to 2028 tax year
- MTD deadlines for the 2028 to 2029 tax year
- Deadlines calendar, which counts down to your next date and can send you a reminder
Where these dates come from
The update periods and deadlines come from GOV.UK’s table for every tax year, and the threshold from the date GOV.UK gives for each step. We last read these pages on 17 October 2026.