HMRC has confirmed that from September 2026it began signing up sole traders and landlords who should be using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax but hadn’t signed themselves up. It is doing this in stages over several months, and contacting people afterwards.
If that’s you, or you think it might be, this guide covers what it means, the deadline you may already have missed, why that probably hasn’t cost you anything, and what to do in what order.
What HMRC has announced
The first quarterly update deadline fell on 7 August 2026. HMRC has since published where things stand:
Two gaps are worth noticing in those numbers. Around 134,000 people signed up but didn’t file— they did the paperwork and then stalled, most often because they had no software in place. And a much larger group never signed up at all. It’s that second group HMRC has started enrolling directly.
This isn’t a penalty exercise or an investigation. It’s HMRC making its records match an obligation that already applied.
Is this going to happen to me?
You’re in scope for the 2026 to 2027 tax year if your qualifying incomewas over £50,000 and you’re not exempt. Qualifying income is the part people get wrong, so it’s worth being precise:
- It’s turnover, not profit — the money coming in, before expenses.
- It combines self-employment and property. A trade turning over £30,000 plus rental income of £25,000 is £55,000, and in scope.
- It’s based on a past tax year, not this one — so a quiet current year doesn’t take you out.
A great many people did the sum on profit, concluded they were under the line, and are in fact over it. If you’re not sure, sign in to HMRC online services and look — your status and any deadlines are shown there. That’s more reliable than waiting for post, because HMRC may contact you through your online account instead.
The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027, so if you’re under it now, it’s worth knowing when your turn comes.
You may already have missed a deadline
The quarterly update deadlines for the 2026 to 2027 tax year are:
- 7 August 2026 — covering 6 April to 5 July
- 7 November 2026 — covering 6 July to 5 October
- 7 February 2027 — covering 6 October to 5 January
- 7 May 2027 — covering 6 January to 5 April
If HMRC signs you up in September or later, the first one is already behind you. That is the single most alarming thing about being enrolled this way, and it is also the least serious.
Why that hasn’t cost you anything
We’d rather tell you that plainly than let a deadline you’ve already missed panic you into a decision. The honest advice is to catch up soon — because the records are fresher now and because your tax return depends on it — not because a charge is accruing.
What does carry a penalty, so you know where the real edges are:
- Late tax returns still attract points in 2026 to 2027.
- From 6 April 2027, late quarterly updates attract points too.
- Points work on a threshold: one per missed deadline, and at four points a £200 penalty, with a further £200 for each subsequent miss.
- Late payment is a separate regime from late filing, and those charges do apply — they scale with how long the tax stays unpaid.
The detail is in HMRC’s penalties guidance.
What to do, in order
Order matters here, mostly because people try to choose software first and then find they can’t connect it to anything.
1. Sign in to HMRC online services
Use the same details you use for Self Assessment. If you’ve never used HMRC online services, set the account up first — everything else depends on it. This is also how you check whether you’ve been signed up and what deadlines you’re facing.
2. Check the details HMRC holds about your income
HMRC enrols people using information it already has, which may be a year or more out of date. Anything that’s started, stopped or changed since your last return needs correcting, and it’s far easier to do that now than to unpick it at year end.
3. Choose compatible software
HMRC doesn’t supply software and doesn’t recommend any product. It publishes a finder tool listing everything that has passed its recognition process, plus guidance on choosing. You can use one product for everything or combine several.
4. Catch up on anything you’ve missed
A quarterly update is a summary — totals of income and expenses for the period. It isn’t a tax return and it isn’t a payment. Once software is connected, overdue and upcoming updates are visible in your HMRC account.
5. Then keep going, and file the return
After catching up you keep digital records and send an update each quarter. The 2026 to 2027 return is due by 31 January 2028. Separately, your 2025 to 2026 return still goes through the old Self Assessment system by 31 January 2027— for one year you’re running both systems side by side.
Checking any letter is genuine
A letter saying you’ve been enrolled in a government scheme is exactly the shape of a good scam, so verify before acting.
- Genuine correspondence shows your own Unique Taxpayer Reference — the 10-digit number you already know from Self Assessment.
- It asks you to sign in at gov.uk in your own browser, never to enter credentials on a page it supplies.
- It never asks for payment or bank details. Nothing about being signed up involves paying anybody.
- Check HMRC’s list of genuine letters. If yours isn’t listed, that page explains what to do — newly introduced letters take a while to appear.
The safe habit with anything from HMRC is the same: ignore the link, go to gov.uk yourself, sign in the way you always do.
If you don’t think you should be in MTD
Being enrolled automatically doesn’t mean HMRC has it right. Check the threshold against qualifying income — turnover, both sources combined — rather than profit.
Some people are exempt without applying, including anyone whose qualifying income is £20,000 or less, partnerships and trusts, ministers of religion, Lloyd’s members, and recipients of Married Couple’s or Blind Person’s Allowance. Others must apply, the main route being digital exclusion — where age, a health condition, disability, religious belief or no realistic internet access makes using software unreasonable.
Read the exemptions guidance before contacting HMRC, so you know which category you’re arguing for.
If you have an accountant
Tell them, rather than assuming they know. Accountants work through a separate agent services account and need to be authorised for Making Tax Digital specifically — existing Self Assessment authorisation isn’t always sufficient. If you’ve been enrolled and haven’t mentioned it, they may have no idea.