How does the transition from Self Assessment to Making Tax Digital work?
Tax is changing! But not for everyone. Here’s a quick reminder of what’s changing this year and for whom.
2026-27 (tax year starting 6th April 2026)
Making Tax Digital (MTD) only starts on 6th April 2026 if the total self-employed and rental income (before expenses) shown on your 2024-25 tax return was over £50,000.
If your total income for 2024-25 was above £50,000, starting from April you’ll need to send your figures to HMRC every quarter, as follows:
- Quarter 1 (6 Apr–5 Jul): Due by 7 August 2026
- Quarter 2 (6 Jul–5 Oct): Due by 7 November 2026
- Quarter 3 (6 Oct–5 Jan): Due by 7 February 2027
- Quarter 4 (6 Jan–5 Apr): Due by 7 May 2027
What if your income has dropped?
Even if your income is below £50,000 now, if you were above the limit in 2024-25, you will still need to comply with MTD.
What if it’s increased?
If your total income is above £50,000 now, but was below the limit in 2024-25, nothing is going to change until at least 6th April 2027. You’ll send in your 2026-27 Self Assessment tax return as normal by the filing deadline of 31 January 2028.
2025-26 (tax year ending 5th April 2026)
If MTD applies to you, you can still keep your bookkeeping records and do your 2025-26 tax return however you’ve done it in the past. HMRC need to receive your 2025-26 tax return by 31 January 2027.
Even though you’ll be submitting your return after 6th April 2026, you don’t have to comply with MTD for the 2025-26 tax year, so you don’t have to rekey your 2025-26 bookkeeping data into MTD software.
Self Assessment v Making Tax Digital
MTD is a separate computer system at HMRC’s end. For anyone being moved to MTD in a few weeks’ time, you can think of it that 2025-26 is your last year in the old system and 2026-27 is your first year in the new.
The vastly different filing dates for Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital does create a slightly odd situation though, in which the deadlines for sending in your Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 figures for 2026-27 are earlier than the deadline for your 2025-26 return!
New support group
The Springreach DIY Bookkeeping Community opens its (virtual) doors for the first time on 6th April. To find out more, visit the community page of our website.
I’ll be hosting a free 1-hour Zoom call on Thursday 2nd April 2026 at 10:00, where you can ask me questions about the membership or just pop in and say hello. To give me an idea of numbers, please book your free place using this link, or click on the button at the foot of the community page.
If you can’t make the call but have a question, send us a message via the contact page.