Key takeaways
- MTD for Income Tax is live. It became law for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 on 6 April 2026.
- It’s had a difficult history since its inception in 2015, with several postponements and rescoping of who/what is included. But that’s all history now.
- The £30,000 threshold applies from 6 April 2027. The £20,000 threshold applies from 6 April 2028.
- No penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026/27. From 2027/28, each missed deadline earns a point, with a £200 penalty at four.
It’s a fair question. Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax was first pencilled in for 2018, then 2023, then 2024, before landing on April 2026.
The good news? That pattern is now broken and MTD is steaming ahead. Any further cancellations or postponements are very unlikely.
The first wave is in, covering incomes over £50,000 and, at the time of publication, the first quarterly updates have been filed.
What’s more, HMRC is actively signing up people who haven’t done so themselves.
The question isn’t “will it happen” any more. It’s “which date applies to me, and am I ready for it?”.
Let’s take a closer look, as follows:
Is MTD delayed in 2026/2027/2028? The short answer is…
No.
GOV.UK confirms that if your qualifying income was over £50,000 in 2024/25, you should already be using MTD for Income Tax, and that if you haven’t signed up you still can.
HMRC and the UK government’s position is that MTD is now a legal requirement and that anyone in scope should check they’re signed up, their software is compatible, and their update is in before the deadline.
One thing did soften, and it’s probably feeding any rumour you may have heard: HMRC won’t apply penalty points for late quarterly updates in the 2026/27 tax year.
That’s a soft landing on lateness, not a pause. The obligation to keep digital records and send updates stands.
The official and confirmed MTD deadlines from 2026 and 2027 onwards
HMRC publishes the full timeline on its Making Tax Digital campaign site and in the quarterly updates guidance on GOV.UK.
For anyone already in the first wave, the next dates at the time of publication are as follows.
Watch out for some gotchas, such as deadlines occurring over the weekend:
- 7 November 2026: 2nd quarterly update (covering 6 April to 5 October). Falls on a Saturday.
- 31 January 2027: Your 2025/26 Self Assessment return, filed the usual way.
- 7 February 2027: 3rd quarterly update. Falls on a Sunday.
- 6 April 2027: The £30,000 wave kicks off, and those included should start keeping digital records.
- 7 May 2027: 4th quarterly update. Falls on a Friday.
- 7 August 2027: First quarterly update of 2027/28, for both those included in the £50,000 wave and those included in the £30,000 wave.
- 31 January 2028: The first MTD tax return for 2026/27, with any required tax payment due the same day. This covers all your sources of income, unlike quarterly updates, which are limited to income and expenditure.
A detail worth diarising: Three of the next four quarterly deadlines fall on a weekend, and January/February 2027 stacks a Self Assessment return and then an MTD quarterly update a week apart.
If you rely on an accountant, that’s their busiest fortnight of the year, so make sure you get everything over to them well ahead of time.
Who’s affected, and when
GOV.UK’s rule is simple to state. You need MTD for Income Tax if you’re a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment and your qualifying income is over the threshold for that tax year:
- Over £50,000 in 2024/25: You should’ve started on 6 April 2026.
- Over £30,000 in 2025/26: You start on 6 April 2027.
- Over £20,000 in 2026/27: You start on 6 April 2028.
Partnerships will follow at a date HMRC hasn’t yet set. You can check your own position with HMRC’s online tool.
MTD already covers VAT, and is in the process of rolling out to apply to Income Tax: sole traders and landlords earning over £50,000 join from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028.
Beyond that, HMRC has pulled back. Its July 2025 Transformation Roadmap stated: “HMRC does not intend to introduce MTD for Corporation Tax“.
So, limited companies keep filing annual returns as now.
HMRC is still exploring digitalisation for sole traders below £20,000, and aims to be “digital-first” by 2030 through pre-populated returns, AI tools, and possible e-invoicing.
6 lesser-known MTD details that catch people out
1. It’s turnover, not profit
The single most common question in the first quarter was still “does this apply to me?”, usually confusing profit with turnover and unsure which income sources count.
Qualifying income is gross income from self-employment and property, combined. A side business plus a rental flat can tip you over together even if neither does alone.
2. No letter doesn’t mean no obligation
HMRC writes to people it believes are in scope, but HMRC is explicit that if you don’t receive a letter it’s still your responsibility to check and sign up, if required.
3. The £20,000 wave is a different animal
The smallest cohort will often have simpler accounts but a harder journey: lower software adoption, more “once a year in a shoebox” habits, more landlords with mixed income, and far more people with no accountant acting as translator.
If you earn around £20,000 from a trade or a rental, the honest truth is that accounting has probably never been something you took seriously.
From April 2028, you’ll need to. Start now, and make life easier for yourself.
4. Preparing and filing are different moments
Many people signed up and connected their software weeks early, then waited until the final days to send the update. The deadline created its own peak.
Build a habit of sending the update as soon as the quarter closes.
5. Updates are cumulative, so mistakes should self-correct
Each update covers from 6 April to the end of the period.
This means you can fix any data that was wrong, and the correction flows into the next update automatically. You’ve no need to specifically call anything out as a mistake.
6. Nil updates still count
If you had no income or expenses in a period, you still have to send the update.
Final thoughts
MTD for Income Tax isn’t delayed, and it’s unlikely it will be from this point onwards.
The people who had the smoothest first quarter weren’t lucky. They’d got software in place early, kept bookkeeping ticking over weekly, and set internal deadlines ahead of the statutory ones.
The 2026/27 year is the cheapest it will ever be to learn the rhythm, because lateness won’t cost penalty points. From 2027/28, it will.
Takeaway: check your 2025/26 turnover now. If it’s over £30,000, your start date is 6 April 2027 and your first deadline is 7 August 2027. If it’s over £20,000, you’ve got until April 2028, but the habits take longer to build than the software does.
MTD delays and postponement FAQs
Has MTD for Income Tax been delayed again in 2026?
No. It went live on 6 April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000 and the first quarterly update deadline has already passed.
Will the £30,000 threshold be delayed?
GOV.UK currently states 6 April 2027 for qualifying income over £30,000 in 2025/26, and no change has been announced.
Does MTD change when I pay tax?
No. Your tax return and payment are still due by 31 January after the tax year ends; for 2026/27 that’s 31 January 2028. Ditto for any payments on account required by HMRC, which are also due on 31 July.
Will MTD apply to Corporation Tax?
No. HMRC originally planned for this to be the case, but has since permanently cancelled that project.
Although Corporation Tax accounting and filing might be digitalised in other ways moving forward, at the moment it’s still built around keeping compliant accounting records and submitting a Corporation Tax return—just as it has been for decades.
Will MTD apply to taxes like Inheritance Tax or Capital Gains?
No. Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax applies to qualifying income from self-employment and property. HMRC confirms that other sources of income, such as employment, pensions and dividends, do not count towards the qualifying-income thresholds, although they may still need to be included in the taxpayer’s overall digital tax return on 31 January.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is reported through separate HMRC digital services or Self Assessment, rather than through MTD’s quarterly updates. UK residential property gains must generally be reported, and any CGT due paid, within 60 days of completion. Other taxable gains can be reported through HMRC’s real-time CGT service by 31 December in the tax year following the disposal, with payment due by 31 January, or through Self Assessment. Where a taxpayer uses MTD for Income Tax, other taxable income and gains must still be included in the annual digital tax return, normally by 31 January.
Inheritance Tax is being digitalised separately. HMRC’s Transformation Roadmap, updated in 2026, confirms plans to replace the existing paper-based process with an end-to-end digital service from the 2027/28 tax year.
Are any MTD quarterly updates delayed, postponed, or cancelled?
The simple yet complete answer is no! See the body of this article for a list of deadlines.
Is the MTD for Income Tax digital tax return delayed, postponed, or cancelled?
No. You should submit this via your MTD-ready software by 31 January. Bear in mind that, although HMRC is not enforcing penalties if you miss an MTD quarterly deadline in the first year of MTD for Income Tax (2026/27), this does not extend to the tax return deadline—they are likely to impose penalties if you miss it!
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