Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Key dates, deadlines and how to stay compliant

What is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?  

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax (IT) is a new way of recording and reporting your income and expenses to HMRC if you are self-employed and/or receive income from property. 

If MTD for IT applies to you, you will need to maintain digital records of your income and expenses, using HMRC-recognised software.  

You will need to send quarterly updates to HMRC from within that software, as well as an end-of-year submission by 31st January (known as a final declaration), which is similar to the tax return sole traders and landlords currently submit. 

If your business is VAT-registered, you will already be familiar with Making Tax Digital for VAT. MTD for IT is the next stage of HMRC’s MTD project to be rolled out, as part of its wider digitisation of tax agenda. 

You can find more background information about Making Tax Digital here. 

Does Making Tax Digital for Income Tax apply to me? 

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will be introduced in stages, depending on your level of qualifying income in the previous tax year: 

Tax year used for threshold calculation	Qualifying income threshold	When Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you
2024/25	£50,000 or more	6th April 2026
2025/26	£30,000 or more	6th April 2027
2026/27	£20,000 or more	6th April 2028

Qualifying income includes income from self-employment and property rental before expenses are deducted. The thresholds are based on your total qualifying income as an individual, not per business. However, the MTD for IT submissions themselves are made on a per business basis. 

You can choose to sign up to MTD voluntarily before you are required to do so, but it is important to understand how the penalty rules work if you opt in early. 

What are the key Making Tax Digital for Income Tax deadlines for 2026? 

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you will need to submit one tax update per quarter. This is not a tax return, rather it is a summary of your income and expenses for the quarter, taken directly from your MTD-compliant software.  

Below is a summary of the key dates in 2026, for taxpayers mandated to use Making Tax Digital from 6th April 2026: 

Requirement	Date
Self-assessment tax return deadline for the 2024/25 tax year (penultimate non-MTD year)	31st January 2026
Record keeping for MTD starts for the 2026/27 tax year	6th April 2026
Quarterly update deadline for 6th April – 5th July	7th August 2026
Quarterly update deadline for 6th July – 5th October	7th November 2026

There will be two further quarterly updates to make in 2027 for the 2026/27 tax year. You will then need to submit your final declaration (MTD for IT tax return) by 31st January 2028, which is when you can make any adjustments, such as adding other sources of taxable income or gains, claiming allowances or correcting disallowable expenses. 

The deadline for paying income tax has not changed because of Making Tax Digital, and payments for the 2026/27 tax year must still be made by 31st January 2028 (or 31st January and 31st July if you fall within the payments on account regime).  

What happens if I miss a Making Tax Digital deadline? 

A new simplified points-based penalty regime will apply to Making Tax Digital.  

If you are mandated to use MTD and miss a submission deadline, whether for a quarterly update or the end-of-year tax return submission, you will receive a penalty point. Once you reach four points, a fixed penalty of £200 is charged – the rules are relaxed for the first year though (see below). Different rules apply if you choose to join MTD voluntarily. 

There are also penalties for late payment of income tax, which increase the longer the payment is overdue.  

HMRC can charge penalties of up to £3,000 for failures to keep adequate records, including failures in digital record-keeping or broken digital links. They are not automatically applied penalties. 

What is new for Making Tax Digital? 

Earlier this year, in its Transformation Roadmap, HMRC announced that it does not intend to introduce Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax, meaning that you do not need to consider these rules if you operate your business through a company. 

HMRC has also announced a penalty easement for the first wave of taxpayers using MTD from April 2026. This means there will be no penalty points for late submissions for the first four quarterly updates, although they still need to be submitted before the end of year final declaration can be submitted.  

Penalty easement does not apply to taxpayers using Making Tax Digital for the first time from April 2027 or April 2028. 

How can I prepare for Making Tax Digital? 

You must sign up for Making Tax Digital before 6th April 2026 if you are required to i.e. you have £50,000 or more qualifying income in the 2024/25 tax year. You must authorise the software before you use MTD, but you can register for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax without having your software solution in place. 

Taxpayers using Making Tax Digital are required to maintain digital records and use MTD compliant software, which can include software packages, API-enabled spreadsheets or bridging software between your spreadsheet and HMRC’s submission system. 

HMRC have published guidance on this here. 

How TaxAssist Accountants can help  

At TaxAssist Accountants, we offer support for a range of MTD compliant software (QuickBooks, Xero and Dext), and can help get you set up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.  

If you need any help or assistance, call us on 0203 827 6000 or use our online enquiry form. 

 

 

Last updated 31 Dec 2025 | First published 31 Dec 2025

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This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.

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