April 2027 MTD joiners spared quarterly-update points in 2027/28

Sole traders and landlords who become subject to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in April 2027 will not collect late-submission penalty points for missed quarterly-update deadlines during the 2027/28 tax yearTAX. The easement covers quarterly updates onlyTAX. A missed end-of-year tax return deadline in the same year remains punishable under the late-submission rulesTAX.

The underlying duties continue through the easement year. Relevant persons must create and preserve business income and expense records digitally with compatible software and send HMRC quarterly updates of income and expenses, and must still send quarterly updates before they can submit the tax return, with the return and any tax owed due by 31 January after the tax year. From April 2026 the regime applies to unincorporated businesses and landlords with total self-employment and property income above £50,000, extending to those above £30,000 from April 2027 and above £20,000 from April 2028.

Taxpayers who joined from April 2026 have no points for missed quarterly deadlines in 2026/27 but enter the points regime in 2027/28TAX. Points begin accruing for late quarterly updates from 7 August 2027TAX, and the quarterly deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Each missed quarterly-update or return deadline adds one penalty point, with a maximum of one point per deadline even where more than one quarterly update was due late. At four points HMRC charges a £200 penalty, and a further £200 for each subsequent missed deadline. Points below the threshold expire automatically 24 months after the missed deadline; once the threshold is reached the taxpayer must send all updates and returns on time for 12 months and file anything outstanding from the previous 24 months to clear the slate.

Four small groups will stay outside the regime until further notice under legislation the government says it will introduce before April 2027. They are individuals eligible for qualifying care relief including foster carers, non-UK resident foreign entertainers and sportspeople, customers who expect to become non-resident but whose status for the coming tax year is not yet confirmed, and a small number of customers who become insolvent before signing up while continuing to trade. Members of these groups continue to report under Self Assessment as now. HMRC expects to identify most of them from information it already holds, so most will not need to contact HMRC.

A successful quarterly submission now produces the message "You sent a quarterly update" in recent activity, giving taxpayers immediate confirmation of receipt. Quarterly updates do not replace the tax return, and taxpayers confirm receipt through recent activity.

The duties sit in the Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026 with the quarterly-update direction, explained for penalties and exemptions in the GOV.UK guidance on penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and on exemptions from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.