Key points
  • The first Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax quarterly deadline lands on 7 August 2026 for over 864,000 sole traders and landlords.
  • MTD applies to anyone with qualifying income above £50,000 from self-employment and/or property, based on 2024/25 Self Assessment figures.
  • The quarterly update is not a tax return — the annual Self Assessment return for 2025/26 is still due 31 January 2027, and lower thresholds widen MTD further in April 2027 and April 2028.

More than 864,000 sole traders and landlords face the first submission deadline under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax on 7 August 2026.

Who this deadline actually applies to

MTD for Income Tax applies to anyone with qualifying income above £50,000 from self-employment and/or property, based on figures reported in their 2024/25 Self Assessment return. If your combined self-employment and property income was below that threshold in 2024/25, this first deadline doesn't apply to you yet — but it's worth checking now, since lower thresholds are due to widen the regime to hundreds of thousands more taxpayers in April 2027 and April 2028.

What a "quarterly update" actually requires

The quarterly update is a digital summary of income and expenses submitted via HMRC-recognised software, replacing the old once-a-year return for the figures it covers. HMRC has been explicit that this is not a tax return — it's a running summary, and the annual Self Assessment return for the full 2025/26 tax year is still due by 31 January 2027 as normal. Think of it as four smaller submissions through the year rather than one big one at the end, using software rather than HMRC's online portal directly.

Worth knowing HMRC says the quarterly update is designed to take only a few minutes to complete once you're set up with recognised software — the bulk of the work is the initial software setup and getting your record-keeping into a compatible format, not the quarterly submission itself.

What's coming after this first deadline

7 August 2026 is only the first of several MTD deadline waves. The £50,000 threshold that applies now is due to drop, bringing hundreds of thousands more sole traders and landlords into scope in April 2027, with a further widening in April 2028. If your income is currently below £50,000 but trending upward, or close to future lower thresholds, it's worth getting familiar with MTD-compatible software now rather than scrambling when your own threshold year arrives.

A range of software is available and the system is straightforward.

— Craig Ogilvie, Director of Making Tax Digital, HMRC, via The Accountant, 2026

What's genuinely still unclear

HMRC's framing of the quarterly update as quick and straightforward reflects the process once software is set up correctly — it doesn't fully capture the one-off adjustment cost for sole traders moving from annual paper or spreadsheet record-keeping to continuous digital bookkeeping for the first time. The April 2027 and April 2028 threshold changes are also government-stated intentions rather than locked legislation years in advance, so the exact income levels and dates should be reconfirmed closer to each change rather than assumed fixed from today's reporting.

Common questions

When is the first Making Tax Digital quarterly deadline?

The first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly deadline is 7 August 2026, applying to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 based on their 2024/25 Self Assessment figures.

Who has to submit under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?

Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 from self-employment and/or property, based on their 2024/25 Self Assessment return, must submit quarterly digital updates from August 2026.

Is a Making Tax Digital quarterly update the same as a tax return?

No. HMRC has stressed the quarterly update is not a tax return. The annual Self Assessment return for the 2025/26 tax year is still due separately by 31 January 2027.

When will more sole traders be brought into Making Tax Digital?

Lower income thresholds are due to widen Making Tax Digital for Income Tax to hundreds of thousands more taxpayers in April 2027 and again in April 2028.

How long does a Making Tax Digital quarterly update take?

HMRC says the quarterly digital summary is designed to take only a few minutes to complete once submitted via HMRC-recognised software, though initial software setup takes longer.

In short

The first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly deadline lands 7 August 2026 for over 864,000 sole traders and landlords earning above £50,000. It's a digital summary, not a full tax return — the 2025/26 Self Assessment return is still due 31 January 2027. Lower thresholds bring more taxpayers into MTD in April 2027 and April 2028, so it's worth getting MTD-compatible software in place now even if you're not affected by this first deadline.

Based on reporting by GOV.UK, 4 Aug 2026.

Sources