Self-Employed or a Landlord Earning Over £50k? Your First Making Tax Digital Update Is Due 7 August

More than 864,000 sole traders and landlords have been told by HMRC they have just weeks left to file their first Making Tax Digital (MTD) quarterly update, with the deadline falling on 7 August 2026. If this is the first you've heard of it, you're not alone — but missing it, while not immediately penalised, starts you off on the wrong foot with a system that's now mandatory.

Who this affects

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax became mandatory from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, based on figures reported from a prior tax year. If your self-employment or property income cleared that threshold, you're in scope — regardless of whether you've used any digital record-keeping software before.

What the update actually involves

This is not a tax return. Your MTD-compatible software uses your digital records to prepare a quarterly update summarising your self-employment and property income and expenses for the period, according to gov.uk. It provides HMRC with running totals — it doesn't require you to make tax or accounting adjustments before submitting. Your annual Self Assessment tax return, due by 31 January as usual, still happens alongside these quarterly submissions; the quarterly updates don't replace it.

The first update covers 6 April 2026 to 5 July 2026 for most people using standard quarterly periods, or 1 April to 30 June 2026 if you use calendar-quarter periods — both are due by the same 7 August deadline, per IBTimes UK.

Checklist: getting your first submission in

1. Confirm you're actually in scope. Check your qualifying income from the relevant prior tax year against the £50,000 threshold — HMRC should have written to you, but don't rely solely on that letter arriving.
2. Choose MTD-compatible software. You cannot submit quarterly updates through the old Self Assessment online portal — you need software recognised by HMRC as MTD-compatible.
3. Get your digital records in order now. Bank statements, invoices and receipts for the 6 April–5 July period need to be entered or imported before you can generate the update.
4. Separate self-employment and property income streams if you have both — the update requires figures by income source, not a single combined total.
5. Submit by 7 August 2026. Don't wait until the deadline day; software issues and data gaps are easier to fix with time to spare.
6. Note the penalty grace period. HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the current 2026–27 tax year, according to gov.uk — but that's a transitional easement, not a long-term exemption, so don't treat it as permission to ignore the deadline going forward.
7. Keep your annual Self Assessment obligation separate in your mind. The 31 January deadline for your full tax return still applies regardless of your quarterly MTD submissions.

Why HMRC is doing this

The stated goal is closing the tax gap through more frequent, digital reporting rather than a single annual return prepared from paper records months after the fact. For comparison, Australia's Single Touch Payroll system and the US IRS's ongoing digitisation of business reporting reflect a similar global direction — tax authorities moving toward more frequent, software-driven reporting rather than annual paper-based filing.

Key Numbers

• Sole traders/landlords affected: 864,000+ (IBTimes UK)
• Qualifying income threshold: £50,000
• First quarterly update deadline: 7 August 2026
• Annual Self Assessment deadline: 31 January (unchanged)

Sources

• gov.uk — Deadline approaches for first MTD quarterly update
• IBTimes UK
• gov.uk — Software for sending Income Tax updates

Educational content only — not financial advice.