16/07/2026
There’s a tax deadline in 3 weeks that most people don’t know exists.
7 August 2026.
Not January. August.
This is the first mandatory quarterly update under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — covering 6 April to 5 July 2026.
Who it hits:
➡️ Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000
What’s changed:
The old rhythm was see your accountant once a year, panic in January, done.
The new rhythm is digital records kept as you go, and a summary sent to HMRC every three months.
Four touchpoints a year instead of one.
Here’s the part people underestimate 👇
The deadline isn’t the hard bit. The setup is.
If you’re still running on a shoebox of receipts and a spreadsheet you update in a fury each April, you cannot file a compliant quarterly update by 7 August. There’s nothing to submit.
So the honest question isn’t ‘when’s the deadline?’
It’s: are my records actually digital, right now, today?
If the answer is ‘not really’ — you’ve got three weeks, and that’s genuinely enough time. In four weeks it won’t be.
Already set up on Xero or similar? You’re probably fine. Worth a sense-check anyway.
Not set up? Let’s fix it this month, calmly, rather than next month, badly.