What is Making Tax Digital?

If you're a sole trader or landlord with a gross income of more than £50,000 from self-employment and/or property, you no longer file just one Self Assessment return a year.

Since 6 April 2026 you have had to keep digital records and send updates to HMRC every three months — plus a final year-end Tax Return. This is live now, not upcoming: the first quarterly update was due on 7 August 2026.

This is part of the Government's 'Making Tax Digital' (MTD) scheme. While it's designed to spread the workload, it also brings new admin, new deadlines — and ultimately penalties if you miss them.

What are the deadlines for Making Tax Digital?

With MTD updates being more frequent than with Self-Assessment — and the penalties if you miss these — it's a good idea to set reminders for each Quarterly Update deadline, as well as for your Tax Return and tax payment.

Here are the key MTD deadlines for the tax year starting 6 April 2026. In places they overlap with the Self-Assessment deadline for the previous 2025/26 tax year (highlighted in red):