What are the Making Tax Digital quarterly update deadlines for landlords?

Making Tax Digital quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. If you join on 6 April 2027, your first is due 7 August 2027 and your fourth by 7 May 2028.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) asks you to keep digital records of your rent and costs and send HMRC a summary four times a year. Each summary is called a quarterly update. The dates below come from GOV.UK's quarterly update guidance, checked on 16 October 2026.

The four deadlines in 2027-28

The same pattern repeats every year: 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, then the tax return by 31 January.

Why each update covers the year so far

Updates are cumulative. The second update covers 6 April to 5 October, not just July to October. That sounds like extra work, but it helps: if you spot a missed receipt from May, you fix it in your records and the next update picks it up. You do not resend the earlier one.

After the fourth update you may need to resend it before you file your tax return, for example to correct an error or to add expenses from a jointly owned property. GOV.UK lists both as reasons to resend.

Standard or calendar quarters?

The standard periods follow the tax year from 6 April. You can choose calendar periods instead, starting 1 April, if your records already run to month ends. You pick this in your software for each income source before your first update of the year, and you cannot change it for that year once an update has gone. The due dates do not move either way.

What goes into each update

An update sends totals for each income and expense category, not your receipts or bank lines. HMRC does not receive individual records. Landlords should know three points:

• If your property turnover is under £90,000, you can send just total income and total expenses.
• Mortgage interest and other residential finance costs must still be sent as a separate figure, even under that simpler option.
• If you own a property with someone else, you can send your share of the rent only during the year and add the expenses after the year ends.

What this means for you

If your 2025-26 rent and any self-employed turnover came to more than £30,000 before expenses, your first deadline is 7 August 2027. The update must still be sent, and before your tax return. GOV.UK says there are no penalty points for missed quarterly updates in 2026-27. At the Budget on 28 October 2026 the government said people who must join in April 2027 will get none for late 2027-28 updates either. For them, the earliest a late update can earn a point is 7 August 2028.

Once points can start, each late update earns one point. At 4 points HMRC charges £200, and £200 again for every later miss. The deadlines are fixed, so the practical answer is a routine: update your records every month and the quarterly summary becomes a check rather than a scramble.

Steps to stay on top of the deadlines

1. Check whether you join in April 2027 with the free MTD check.
2. Put 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May in your diary, with a reminder two weeks before each.
3. Decide on standard or calendar periods before your first update, and set it in your software.
4. Keep mortgage interest as its own category from 6 April 2027.
5. Record rent and costs each month, so each quarter needs only a quick check.
6. Send the update from compatible software, even if the property was empty and the figures are nil.
7. After the fourth update, make any year-end corrections and file your tax return by 31 January 2029.

If someone else sends them for you

You can authorise an agent to send your updates, and a supporting agent can send updates too. The deadlines stay yours, so agree who sends each one and by when. The landlord section sets out our plans for small landlords. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete; until then you can join the waitlist, and no payment is taken.