Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
I missed the quarterly update deadline. What happens now?
The first ever MTD for Income Tax quarterly update was due on 7 August 2026. If yours did not go in, the short answer is better than the software adverts suggest: HMRC issues no penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026/27 — not a reduced penalty, none. This page shows where you actually stand and what to do next.
Where do I stand?
Why there is no fine — and what that does not cover
MTD for Income Tax became mandatory on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, and HMRC put more than 864,000 people in scope of the 7 August date. It is the first time any of them have had to do this, and HMRC built in a soft landing for exactly that reason.
The penalty regime everyone is being warned about is real, but it starts after this tax year. From 2027/28 each missed quarterly update earns one penalty point, and four points triggers a £200 penalty. For 2026/27, gov.uk is unambiguous: there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline.
What that soft landing does not touch is the Self Assessment return itself. Those penalties are unchanged, and they are the expensive ones:
| If this is late… | Penalty in 2026/27 | Points? |
|---|---|---|
| A quarterly update (7 Aug, 7 Nov, 7 Feb, 7 May) | None | No |
| Your 2026/27 tax return (due 31 Jan 2028) | Penalty points apply | Yes |
| Paying the tax — 16 to 30 days late | 3% of the tax outstanding at day 15 | — |
| Paying the tax — 31+ days late | 3% + a further 3%, then 10% a year interest | — |
Late payment percentages rise to 4% + 4% from 2027/28.
The missed figures are not lost
Quarterly updates restate the tax year to date rather than reporting a quarter in isolation — gov.uk lists the second standard period as 6 April to 5 October, not 6 July to 5 October. So the income and expenses from the period you missed are carried into your next update. There is no separate amendment or catch-up return to file.
That is not a reason to skip it. Send the missed update if your software will let you: gov.uk states plainly that your quarterly updates need to be in before you can submit your tax return, and the tidiest position in January 2028 is a complete set.
Common questions
Will I be fined for missing the 7 August 2026 MTD deadline?
No. HMRC issues no penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026/27 tax year, and no fine either. The points-based regime — one point per missed deadline, £200 once you reach four points — applies from 2027/28 onwards.
Can I still send a late quarterly update?
The obligation does not expire, and gov.uk says your quarterly updates need to be sent before you can submit your tax return, so the safe move is to send it as soon as you can. Exactly what a late period looks like in your own software varies by provider — if it will not accept the missed period on its own, the next update covers the tax year to date and picks those figures up.
I earn under £50,000 — did I miss anything?
No. MTD for Income Tax only became mandatory from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000. Below that there was no quarterly update to send and no deadline to miss. Qualifying income over £30,000 joins from 6 April 2027 and over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. You still file a normal Self Assessment return.
When is the next MTD quarterly update deadline?
7 November 2026, covering the period to 5 October 2026. After that: 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027. Your final declaration for 2026/27 — the part that replaces the tax return — is due by 31 January 2028, and that is the deadline with real penalties attached.
Does missing an update delay my tax refund or affect payments on account?
No. Quarterly updates carry no payment and no tax calculation — they are a report of income and expenses. What you owe is still worked out at the final declaration, and your payments on account are still due 31 January and 31 July as before.
I have not kept digital records at all. Is that a separate problem?
Yes, and it is the one worth fixing first. The duty to keep digital records applies from 6 April 2026 and is separate from sending the update. A spreadsheet counts, as long as it reaches HMRC through bridging software — you do not need an expensive subscription to be compliant.
The reason it got missed
Almost nobody misses a quarterly update because they forgot the date. They miss it because on 6 August the figures were still in a carrier bag, and assembling them was a bigger job than the deadline allowed. There are three more of these before January, on the same three-month rhythm.
- Self Assessment Tax Estimator 2026/27 — know what you owe before January, not after.
- Invoice Tracker & Log — auto paid/outstanding/overdue, with a chase list.
- Freelance Day-Rate & Profit Calculator — works backwards from the take-home you want.
- Rental Property ROI & Yield Calculator — including Section 24 and a rate stress test.
Excel and Google Sheets. Working formulas, not just formatting. They keep the digital records MTD expects and total themselves, so the next update is a copy-and-paste — you'll still need bridging software to send it, and we don't pretend otherwise.
An accountant or bookkeeper? Penalty points are per client and per deadline, and they expire on a rolling 24-month clock. The MTD Practice Tracker keeps every client's updates and returns on one board so no deadline — and no point — slips past you. £39 one-time.
Just doing your own? See the toolkit — from £9 →Four working spreadsheets. £9 each, or all four for £19, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.