Guides

Making Tax Digital quarterly update deadlines

Checked against GOV.UK on 18 October 2026

General guidance taken from GOV.UK, not advice about your own tax affairs. HMRC's rules change, so the GOV.UK pages listed at the end are the final word.

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax you send four quarterly updates a year for each self-employment and property business you have. The deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, whichever update periods you use. Your tax return is still due by 31 January after the end of the tax year.

Standard update periods

Use these if your accounting period runs with the tax year, 6 April to 5 April. They're the default in your software.

Update period Deadline
6 April to 5 July 7 August
6 April to 5 October 7 November
6 April to 5 January 7 February
6 April to 5 April 7 May (the following tax year)

Calendar update periods

If your accounting period runs from 1 April to 31 March, you should use calendar update periods instead: they end on the last day of a month, which makes record keeping simpler.

Update period Deadline
1 April to 30 June 7 August
1 April to 30 September 7 November
1 April to 31 December 7 February
1 April to 31 March 7 May (the following tax year)

Your software starts on standard update periods. To use calendar periods, switch to them in your software before you send your first quarterly update: once you've sent an update, you can't change your update periods for the rest of that tax year, so check this when you set up your software.

Each update covers the year so far

Every update runs from the start of the tax year to the end of the period — not just the last three months. So if you spot a mistake, you correct your records and the next update carries the correction; you don't resend the earlier ones.

An update is a summary, not a tax return: totals for each income and expense category, worked out by your software for you to check. HMRC does not receive your individual receipts or invoices. You don't need to make accounting or tax adjustments before sending one.

When to send

  • Any time after the end of the update period, up to and including the deadline day.
  • Up to 10 days before the period ends, if you don't expect any more transactions — for example, if you're going on holiday.
  • More often, if you like. Each update must still cover the full period from the start of the tax year.
  • Even if nothing happened. If you had no income or expenses in the period, you still send the update to tell HMRC.

You may need to resend your fourth update after the year ends, for example to correct an error, before you make any tax adjustments.

If you miss a deadline

Late quarterly updates earn penalty points. Reaching the threshold means a £200 penalty.

  • In the 2026 to 2027 tax year, HMRC will not give penalty points for late quarterly updates. You still have to send them before you can submit your tax return, and points do apply to a late tax return.
  • After the 2026 to 2027 tax year, each late update earns a point, and 4 points means a £200 penalty. Late tax returns earn points too.
  • If you're volunteering, late quarterly updates carry no penalty. Late tax returns do: 2 points means a £200 penalty.

Your tax return

You submit your tax return through your Making Tax Digital software by 31 January following the end of the tax year. You can send it earlier: a 2025 to 2026 return can go any time from 6 April 2026 to 31 January 2027.

For the tax year before you start using Making Tax Digital, you send your Self Assessment tax return the way you always have.

Sources