MTD for Income Tax: Preparing for the 7 November 2026 Update

The next MTD date to plan for is 7 November

For people required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in 2026/27, HMRC lists 7 November as the second quarterly-update deadline. The four standard dates are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.¹

An update is a summary of self-employment and property income and expenses, built from digital records. It is not the final tax return or a final calculation of tax due.² That distinction is useful: the November update is a chance to check the year-to-date records while there is still time to correct the process, rather than a reason to make unsupported year-end adjustments.

What the update should cover

HMRC updated its guidance in May 2026 to clarify that each quarterly update automatically covers the period from the beginning of the tax year to the end of that update period.³ In practical terms, the November submission is a year-to-date position, not a separate three-month return that replaces the earlier one.

That makes record quality important. Before sending, make sure transactions that belong to self-employment or property income have been captured, and that expenses have enough detail to be categorised correctly. A bank feed can help, but HMRC says that some transactions may not contain the full detail and may need a separate digital record; the taxpayer remains responsible for checking accuracy before sending.⁴

A focused review before submitting

Use the next two months to answer a small set of operational questions:

1. Are all business and property income sources present in the software?
2. Have transactions been assigned to an appropriate Self Assessment category?
3. Are there cash, card or platform transactions absent from a bank connection?
4. Have you kept evidence for the figures recorded?
5. Does the accounting period selected in the software match the records being used?

This is also a sensible point to resolve estimated figures. HMRC allows a record to be updated once an amount is confirmed; the confirmed figure is included in the next quarterly update. If the fourth update has already been sent, it may need to be resent to include it.⁵

No 2026/27 quarterly late penalty does not remove the job

HMRC says there are no penalties for missing a quarterly-update deadline in 2026/27. However, you still need to keep digital records and send all quarterly updates before submitting the tax return.⁶

Treat the November date as a controlled review point. Reconcile the underlying records, submit the cumulative update from compatible software, and retain enough evidence to support the figures. The annual tax return remains the place to check reliefs, allowances and other income before filing by the normal deadline.