Your First MTD Deadline Is Friday - What's Actually Required
The first Making Tax Digital quarterly update is due on Friday 7 August. If you're a sole trader or landlord who crossed £50,000, your filing obligations have just gone from one a year to five - Permanently.
Does this apply to you?
You're in scope from 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income on the 2024/25 Self Assessment return was above £50,000. Qualifying income is gross turnover from self-employment plus gross property income, before any expenses or reliefs.
That's gross, not profit, and it's the detail that catches people. A landlord with £55,000 of rent and £20,000 of mortgage interest is in scope despite a far smaller taxable profit.
HMRC writes to those it believes are affected. The legal duty to check is yours, and the deadline applies whether a letter arrived or not.
What's now required
Four quarterly updates a year, plus a Final Declaration that replaces your Self Assessment return. Each update is a digital summary of income and expenses, submitted through MTD-compatible software rather than the HMRC website.
Records have to be kept digitally and maintained throughout the year. Each income source files separately, so a sole trader with a buy-to-let submits two sets of updates, not one.
The updates are cumulative. Each one covers the year to date and replaces the one before it, so a mistake in one quarter is corrected in the next rather than through a separate amendment.
Quarterly updates don't trigger a tax payment. They're a reporting obligation, and missing them carries consequences of its own.
The real change isn't Friday
One deadline is manageable. The change worth paying attention to is that this is now permanent, and it removes the option most sole traders and landlords have relied on for years.
The January catch-up is over. Reconstructing twelve months of records in one sitting no longer works when HMRC expects a digital summary every quarter. Bookkeeping has to be current all year, not assembled once.
For anyone whose records currently live in a carrier bag and a spreadsheet, that isn't a software problem. It's a working-practice problem, and it recurs four times a year from now on.
The date to worry about is January 2027
Two things collide early next year, and almost nobody has this in their diary yet.
First, you still have a Self Assessment return to file. Being in MTD does not switch off your 2025/26 return, which is due as normal by 31 January 2027. The Final Declaration only replaces Self Assessment from the 2026/27 year onward, and that isn't due until January 2028.
Second, your third quarterly update falls due on 7 February 2027. Seven days after the return.
So the worst fortnight in the accounting calendar now carries an old-style annual return and a new quarterly obligation back to back. If your records are current, both are routine. If January is when the shoebox gets opened, they will hurt at the same time.
If Friday is already unrealistic
There is some breathing room, and it's worth knowing rather than panicking. HMRC is running a soft landing for the first year, with no penalty points for late quarterly updates across 2026/27.
That's a grace period, not an exemption. The Final Declaration stays under normal late filing penalties, the soft landing ends, and the obligation itself doesn't pause. All four updates still have to be filed before you can make your Final Declaration.
What it does buy you is time to get this set up properly rather than scrambling. That is the sensible use of it.
It widens from here
The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. If you're under £50,000 today, your turn is coming.
Once mandated you stay in, even if income later falls, unless you qualify to opt out after three consecutive years below the threshold.
Where we come in
Most people in scope don't need to become experts in quarterly filing. They need it to stop being their problem.
We handle the lot: getting compliant software in place, keeping records current through the year, submitting all four quarterly updates, and filing the Final Declaration. You get a reminder when we need something from you, and otherwise the deadlines pass without you thinking about them - Including that awkward fortnight in January 2027.
It's included in Delve's fixed monthly fee - Five filings a year, no per-submission charges, no hourly billing for the phone call when you're unsure.
If Friday has crept up on you, the soft landing means there's still time to sort this properly. Get in touch and we'll take it from here.
This article is general information, not advice. Dates and thresholds apply to the 2026/27 tax year and were checked at publication - Speak to us on 01793 677 644 before acting on your own numbers.
