Sole traders and landlords are being reminded of the next major deadline for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) continues its drive to transition taxpayers onto the digital reporting system.
The deadline for the second quarterly update of the 2026/27 tax year is 7 November 2026. This follows the first full rollout of the mandatory scheme, which began on 6 April 2026 for individuals with qualifying income exceeding £50,000.
In a significant shift in enforcement, HMRC began automatically signing up eligible taxpayers for the service in September 2026 if they had not yet registered themselves. While this automatic enrolment brings users into the system, HMRC has clarified that taxpayers are still responsible for choosing and authorising their own compatible accounting software to submit their updates.
Checking service availability
As the November deadline approaches, taxpayers are advised to monitor the official service availability page for the “Use software to send Income Tax updates” service. This dashboard provides real-time updates on system health, including scheduled maintenance windows and any unplanned technical outages.
If a user finds that their software is unable to connect to HMRC despite the official service status being listed as “available,” the issue likely resides with the third-party software provider rather than the central HMRC systems. In such cases, taxpayers should contact their software vendor directly.
The points-based penalty system
The transition to MTD for Income Tax has also introduced a new points-based penalty regime designed to penalise frequent late submissions while allowing for occasional errors.
Under this system, a taxpayer receives one point for every missed quarterly deadline. Once a threshold of four points is reached, a £200 fine is automatically triggered. Subsequent missed deadlines while at the threshold will result in further £200 penalties.
Future threshold changes
The current mandatory requirement applies only to those earning above £50,000.
Taxpayers who are unsure of their status or who have been automatically enrolled are encouraged to review their digital tax accounts to ensure their compatible software is correctly linked before the 7 November deadline.