MTD quarterly update due 7 November 2026: what to send and what happens if you're late

Do you need to send one?

You need to send a quarterly update if you are a sole trader or landlord who had to start Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on 6 April 2026. GOV.UK says that applies if your qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024/25 tax year. Qualifying income means turnover, not profit, and for a CIS subcontractor that means your pay before CIS was taken off.

If your income was lower, you are not in MTD yet and have no update to send. The threshold falls to £30,000 for people who must start in April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Use the MTD checker to see your start date, or read the full MTD guide.

The dates for 2026/27

Each update covers the tax year so far. GOV.UK gives the same four deadlines whichever update periods you use. Standard update periods follow the tax year (6 April to 5 April) and are the default in software. Calendar update periods are for people whose accounting period runs from 1 April to 31 March.

GOV.UK says you cannot change your update periods for the rest of the tax year after you send a quarterly update, so check this when you set up your software.

What goes in the update

GOV.UK describes quarterly updates as summaries, not tax returns, sent from compatible software. You do not need to make any accounting or tax adjustments before sending one. In practice that means:

• your software adds up your digital records into totals of income and expenses for each self-employment and property business you have;
• the update is cumulative, so the November update covers everything from 6 April to the end of the period, not just the last three months;
• you check the figures in your software before you send them. GOV.UK says your software works the totals out for you;
• if you are a CIS subcontractor, CIS deductions are claimed through your tax return, so keep your monthly statements.

You still have to send an update if the period was quiet. GOV.UK says you must send one even if you had no income or expenses to report.

Sending it

1. Make sure your income and expenses up to 5 October (or 30 September if you use calendar update periods) are recorded in your software.
2. Check the totals against your bank account and invoices.
3. Review and submit the update from your software. Keep any confirmation it gives you.
4. Put the next deadline, 7 February 2027, in your calendar. Our HMRC dates calendar has a free .ics file with every date.

What if you miss it?

For the 2026/27 tax year, GOV.UK says HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates, and that there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in 2026/27. It is a first-year easement, so a late update this November does not add to a points count.

It does not remove the duty to send the update. GOV.UK says you still need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates before you can submit your tax return, so a missing update will hold you up later. The easement is also narrow:

• Penalties still apply for late tax returns and for tax bills paid after the due date.
• Your 2025/26 tax return, due 31 January 2027, is still under the current penalties, even if you started MTD in April 2026.
• For tax years after 2026/27, each missed quarterly update deadline earns a penalty point. At 4 points you get a £200 penalty, and another £200 each time you miss a further deadline. The MTD guide explains the system and the Budget changes.

If you missed the 7 August update, send the November one as soon as you can. Every update is cumulative, so it covers everything from 6 April.

Before the next deadline

• Open your software at the end of each period and reconcile it, rather than waiting for the deadline week.
• Put aside tax as you earn: the quarterly update does not collect any, but the bill still arrives on 31 January. Our tax set-aside calculator shows how much to save.
• If your income has dropped, you may be able to reduce your payments on account.
• Check the Self Assessment deadlines for your return and payment dates, including the weekend note for 31 January 2027.