Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, UK sole traders and landlords no longer file once-a-year Self Assessment and forget about it. Instead, you submit a quarterly update of your income and expenses every three months, then a final End of Period Statement (EOPS) alongside the Self Assessment return. If you are affected by MTD from April 2026, here are the four key dates for the 2026/27 tax year.

The four quarterly deadlines for 2026/27

HMRC divides the tax year into four standard three-month periods. Each period ends on the fifth of April-aligned dates and the deadline for submitting the quarterly update is one calendar month after the period-end. For the 2026/27 tax year (which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), the four quarterly deadlines are:

Each deadline falls on the 7th of the month because HMRC aligns the dates to the weekend — the underlying rule is “one calendar month after the quarter end”.

What you need to submit each quarter

A quarterly update is a summary of your income and expenses for that three-month period. Your MTD software handles the submission to HMRC via its API — you do not log in to gov.uk. The data HMRC expects per quarterly update includes:

It is not a full tax calculation. You do not need to know your final tax liability at the quarterly stage — only the totals. Your software will collate the figures and push them to HMRC when you click submit.

End of Period Statement — 31 January 2028

The quarterly updates alone are not enough. After the tax year ends you must also submit an End of Period Statement (EOPS) via your MTD software. The EOPS finalises the figures for the year and must be submitted by 31 January 2028 for the 2026/27 tax year — the same Self Assessment deadline as your final declaration.

Late submission of the EOPS is the part that actually attracts penalties. The first missed EOPS triggers a £100 penalty. If it is still outstanding three months later, the penalty rises to £300, and after six months it reaches £500. HMRC may waive penalties in genuine hardship cases, but the safest approach is to never miss the deadline.

Practical tips for meeting the deadlines

  1. Pick software with a good notification system. Every HMRC-recognised MTD package will remind you ahead of each deadline — choose one that does so reliably (FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage all do).
  2. Reconcile weekly, not quarterly. Leave bookkeeping to the last week of the quarter and you will discover missing receipts on 6 August. Reconcile as you go and the quarterly submission becomes a 10-minute job.
  3. File even if your numbers are incomplete. HMRC allows amendments to quarterly updates. Submit a best-estimate on the day and correct it later — that is far better than missing the deadline and triggering penalties.
  4. Keep three years of records. HMRC can go back three years (six for “deliberate” errors), so digital record-keeping is non-negotiable under MTD.

What if my qualifying income changes mid-year?

If your income drops below the £50,000 threshold during 2026/27, you may exit MTD — but only at the end of the tax year. HMRC assesses MTD membership based on the previous year’s qualifying income. Speak to your accountant if you think this applies.

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Bottom line

The four 2026/27 MTD Income Tax quarterly deadlines are 7 August 2026, 7 November 2026, 7 February 2027, and 7 May 2027, with the final End of Period Statement due 31 January 2028. Miss the quarterly updates and you only damage your own record-keeping; miss the EOPS and you are looking at a £100 minimum penalty. Reconcile weekly, use HMRC-recognised software, and treat the quarterly deadline as a non-negotiable appointment.