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Missed Your First MTD Quarterly Update? Don’t Panic — But Don’t Ignore It

The first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) quarterly filing deadline has now passed.

If you were required to join MTD from April 2026, your first quarterly update was due by 7 August 2026.

So, were you one of the people who:

  • didn’t realise you had to submit anything?
  • knew about the deadline but weren’t quite ready?
  • hadn’t got your accounting software set up properly?
  • assumed your accountant would automatically deal with it?
  • or simply put it off and hoped it might go away?

If so, the important thing now is not to ignore it any longer.

You Still Need to Submit Quarter One

Missing the 7 August deadline doesn’t remove the obligation.

You still need to get your digital records up to date and submit the required information through MTD-compatible software.

And unfortunately, MTD doesn’t stop while you catch up.

Your second quarterly update is due by 7 November 2026, followed by:

  • 7 February 2027 – third quarterly update
  • 7 May 2027 – fourth quarterly update

So the longer you leave Quarter One unresolved, the closer you get to having two quarters to sort out at the same time.

The Good News: HMRC Has Given Some Breathing Space

There is some welcome news for anyone who has missed this first deadline.

HMRC has confirmed that penalty points will not be issued for late quarterly updates during the 2026/27 tax year.

That does not mean you can simply forget about the submissions.

The quarterly updates still have to be completed, your digital records still need to be maintained, and HMRC says the required quarterly updates must be submitted before you can ultimately complete your tax return.

The first year is therefore an opportunity to get your systems working properly before the normal penalty regime begins to bite.

What Does a Quarterly Update Actually Involve?

One of the biggest misunderstandings around MTD is that you are suddenly having to prepare four full tax returns every year.

You aren’t.

The quarterly updates are essentially summaries of the income and expenditure held within your digital accounting records.

For most businesses, the difficult part isn’t pressing the button to submit the update.

The difficult part is making sure that:

your bookkeeping is up to date, your software is suitable, your records are being kept digitally and the whole process is set up correctly.

Once that infrastructure is working, the quarterly submissions should become considerably more straightforward.

Haven’t Even Signed Up Yet?

That can also be dealt with.

If you were required to use MTD from April 2026 but haven’t yet got everything organised, you need to get the position reviewed now.

For 2026/27, MTD applies broadly to sole traders and landlords whose qualifying self-employment and property income was more than £50,000.

HMRC says more than 864,000 sole traders and landlords were within the first tranche.

If you’re one of them and nothing has been done yet, there is still time to get things back under control.

This Is Exactly Where We Can Help

If you’ve missed the first MTD deadline, williams lester accountants can help you catch up.

We can look at where you are now, establish what should already have been done and put a practical plan in place to bring you up to date.

That could include helping you:

  • establish whether MTD actually applies to you
  • get registered correctly
  • choose or configure suitable MTD-compatible software
  • bring your bookkeeping and digital records up to date
  • deal with the outstanding Quarter One position
  • prepare for the 7 November Quarter Two deadline
  • and put a system in place so this doesn’t become a quarterly panic.

And if you’re currently using spreadsheets, paper records or a mixture of different systems, we can help you work out the simplest route into compliant digital record keeping.

Missed 7 August? Act Before 7 November

The worst thing you can do is allow one missed deadline to become two.

If you should have submitted an MTD quarterly update by 7 August 2026 and haven’t done so, get in touch with us now.

We can help you work out what’s outstanding, get the first quarter dealt with and make sure you’re ready for the next deadline on 7 November 2026.

You may have missed the first deadline. You haven’t missed the opportunity to get MTD under control.

Need help with Making Tax Digital?

Talk to williams lester accountants and we’ll help you get caught up, compliant and ready for the next quarterly deadline.

Get in touch today before Quarter Two arrives.