More than 4 in 10 taxpayers expected to join MTD had not registered before the first quarterly deadline

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is now very much a reality for hundreds of thousands of self-employed people and landlords.

According to HMRC, more than 500,000 people had signed up ahead of the first quarterly reporting deadline on 7 August.

However, that still left an estimated 364,000 taxpayers – more than 4 in 10 of those expected to be within scope – unregistered before the deadline.



HMRC had identified around 864,000 taxpayers with qualifying income above £50,000 who were expected to join MTD from the 2026/27 tax year.

What was due on 7 August?

The 7 August deadline covered both registration for MTD and submission of the first quarterly update, reporting income for the opening quarter of 2026/27.

Those updates have to be submitted using MTD-compatible software, as HMRC doesn't provide its own online filing service for them.

For anyone who missed the deadline, the important thing now is not to ignore it.

HMRC has said it will send reminder letters to taxpayers who haven't met their obligations, with further figures on registrations and quarterly submissions expected to follow.

Sign-ups are increasing

HMRC says activity increased significantly as the deadline approached.

Craig Ogilvie, HMRC's director of MTD, said almost 30,000 quarterly update obligations were recorded in a single day earlier in deadline week, adding that HMRC was "regularly breaking MTD sign-up and submission records".

However, professional bodies have raised concerns about the number of taxpayers who had still not registered.

ACCA senior technical advisory manager Yogesh Dhanak said the figures highlighted shortcomings in HMRC's awareness campaign and warned that implementation remained challenging.

Given that more than four in ten of those expected to be within scope had yet to register before the deadline, it's clear that a significant number of people are still getting to grips with the new system.

What if you've missed a quarterly deadline?

There is some breathing space during the first year.

There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline during 2026/27, although that doesn't mean the update can simply be ignored. Taxpayers are still required to submit the information.

The more significant date to be aware of is 6 April 2027.

From then, the points-based late-submission penalty regime will apply.

Under the system, a taxpayer will receive one point for each missed quarterly deadline. Once four points have accumulated, a £200 penalty will be charged.

That makes the current tax year a useful opportunity to get familiar with the process and make sure your record-keeping and software are working properly before penalties come into play.

Final thoughts

MTD represents a significant change to the way many self-employed people and landlords manage their tax affairs.

If you were supposed to join from 2026/27 and haven't yet registered or submitted your first quarterly update, it's worth dealing with it now rather than allowing the outstanding requirements to build up.

And for those already submitting quarterly updates, now is the time to make sure the process is working smoothly.

From 6 April 2027, missed quarterly deadlines can start accumulating penalty points, so getting into good habits during this first year could save a lot of unnecessary hassle later.

If you're unsure whether MTD applies to you, need help getting set up with compatible software or simply want somebody to take the headache out of the new requirements, talk to us about MTD.

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