Missed a quarterly update?
What happens in 2026/27.

Last reviewed: 25 September 2026. Every fact on this page links to the GOV.UK guidance it comes from. HMRC can change its guidance - if anything here differs from GOV.UK, GOV.UK is right.

The short answer: no penalty for a late quarterly update this year

“There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.”

Source: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)

HMRC’s quarterly updates guidance says the same thing in different words: “HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year.” (Send quarterly updates, GOV.UK). So if you missed the 7 August 2026 deadline, you have not picked up a penalty point for it.

But you still have to send it

“No penalty” is not “optional”. GOV.UK is clear that you still need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates before you can submit your tax return. If HMRC has signed you up itself, its guidance asks you to catch up and “send your overdue quarterly update as soon as possible”.

The good news is that catching up is less work than it sounds. Each quarterly update covers everything from the start of the tax year to the end of the period, not just the last three months. In HMRC’s words, “This means you can correct your records without having to resend previous updates.”

How to catch up

1. 1 Choose compatible software and connect it to HMRC. HMRC’s find software tool lists the products that work with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
2. 2 Create your digital records from 6 April 2026, the start of the tax year: your income and expenses for each self-employment and property business.
3. 3 Send the overdue update. Your HMRC online account shows any overdue quarterly updates and the upcoming deadlines.
4. 4 Stay on the calendar from here. The table below has every 2026/27 deadline.

The 2026/27 deadlines for the standard update periods, with the period each update covers:

Source: Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK). If you use calendar update periods (1 April to 31 March), the deadlines are the same and the periods end on the last day of the month.

What does still carry a penalty in 2026/27

The no-penalty rule is about quarterly updates only. Two things still have penalties this year:

• Your tax return. “Penalty points will still apply for late tax returns for this tax year.” For 2026/27 the tax return is due by 31 January 2028. Under the new points system you get one point per missed deadline, and at 4 points a £200 penalty, then another £200 each time you miss another submission deadline.
• Paying late. Tax you owe is due by 31 January after the end of the tax year. In your first year under the new penalties you have 30 days from the payment due date to either pay in full or contact HMRC to set up a payment plan; HMRC starts to apply penalties after that. Late payment interest is charged from the first day your payment is late, until you pay in full.

The full rules, including the late payment penalty rates, are on GOV.UK: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

From 2027/28, late quarterly updates do count

This is a first-year concession, not the permanent rule. For tax years after 2026 to 2027, each missed quarterly update deadline earns a penalty point, the same as a late tax return. You can only get one point per deadline, even if you have more than one business and send more than one update late. Below the 4-point threshold, each point is removed automatically 24 months after the missed deadline.

If you are volunteering for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax rather than required to use it, the rules are different: penalties do not apply to late quarterly updates while you volunteer, and the threshold for late tax returns is 2 points. See Send quarterly updates on GOV.UK.

Signed up by HMRC?

If you are reading this because HMRC wrote to say it has signed you up, start with HMRC has signed you up for MTD: what to do now. It walks through the steps HMRC asks for, in order.

Catching up with EasyTaxer

EasyTaxer keeps your digital records and sends your quarterly updates for self-employment, UK property and foreign property to HMRC, then your tax return, in one place, and your dashboard shows your next deadline. Read how to submit a quarterly update to see what it looks like.

Sources

Everything above comes from HMRC's own guidance on GOV.UK:

• Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: send quarterly updates
• Check what to do if HMRC has signed you up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax