16/02/2025
From April 2026 the way in which you file your tax return is changing.
The new way of reporting will become mandatory in phases, starting from 6 April 2026. Sole traders and landlords who earn income from self-employment or property will have to sign up, unless:
their qualifying income is £30,000 or less (before expenses or taxes are deducted)
they’re exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Those with a qualifying income of:
more than £50,000 need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026
more than £30,000 need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027.
After each 3 month period has ended, you need to send your update within one month. If you do not send it by this deadline, you may need to pay a late submission penalty. These penalties do not apply during the testing phase.
This means that during testing, you can sign up partway through the tax year and will not receive penalties for submitting quarterly updates after the deadlines. You can read more about catching up in the Introduction.
The standard update periods are based on the tax year and the deadlines are given in the following table.
Update period Update deadline
6 April to 5 July 5 August
6 July to 5 October 5 November
6 October to 5 January 5 February
6 January to 5 April 5 May
Alternatively, you can choose to use calendar update periods which end on the last day of the month. This may make your record keeping simpler if your accounting period does not align with the tax year.
You must select calendar update periods in your compatible software before the first update is made for the tax year.
You’ll need to meet the same deadlines as standard update periods.
Calendar update periods will continue to apply unless you decide to change back to standard update periods.
If you choose to return to standard update periods, you need to select standard update periods in your compatible software before the first update is made for the tax year.
Update period Update deadline
1 April to 30 June 5 August
1 July to 30 September 5 November
1 October to 31 December 5 February
1 January to 31 March 5 May
With this in mind I have decided I will no longer be filing tax returns. I don’t have capacity for the extra work involved in filing more returns.
I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
