Do you still do a tax return under Making Tax Digital?
Does MTD apply to you yet?Yes. The four quarterly updates don't replace your tax return, they feed it. The year still finishes with one submission that pulls everything together, due by 31 January as always. What changes is where it happens: through your MTD software instead of HMRC's online form. And one thing doesn't change at all: when and how you pay.
What quarterly updates actually are
A quarterly update is a running summary, not a mini tax return. Your software sends HMRC totals for each income and expense category; HMRC doesn't receive individual records like receipts or invoices. Each update is cumulative, covering from the start of the tax year, so a corrected record simply rides the next one. Nothing is final, nothing is assessed, and no payment is due with an update. The deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.
The year-end step
After the fourth update, you finish the year in the same software. This step is what used to be the separate Self Assessment return. In HMRC's words, before you submit "you must add all income sources and gains": savings interest, dividends and any partnership share you add yourself, while employment, pensions and certain benefits are filled in by HMRC. Then you declare the information is correct and complete, and submit. The deadline is unchanged: 31 January following the end of the tax year, earlier if you like.
One wrinkle for your first year. The return for the tax year before you start MTD is still a traditional Self Assessment return. Start in April 2026 and you'll file 2025-26 the old way by 31 January 2027, then 2026-27 through your software by 31 January 2028.
Final declaration, crystallisation, tax return
This year-end step goes by three names. HMRC's own technical documentation calls it the final declaration, and so do most accountants. gov.uk's guidance for taxpayers drops the name entirely: there it's just your tax return, submitted through MTD software. And older articles say "crystallisation", a name HMRC retired from its documentation in March 2024. Same step, three names.
Paying doesn't change
MTD changes how you keep records and how you report. It does not change payment methods or due dates. The bill still arrives through Self Assessment: the balance for the year by 31 January, and once you owe £1,000 or more, payments on account on 31 January and 31 July, unless more than 80% of your tax was already collected at source. Nothing is collected with a quarterly update.
If you're late
Lateness works on points. A penalty point is applied for each missed deadline, quarterly update or tax return, and at 4 points HMRC issues a £200 penalty. There's a soft landing on the updates: no penalty points for late quarterly updates in the first year, 2026-27. The tax return deadline keeps its own penalties, so 31 January still matters as much as it ever did.
Quick answers
Is a quarterly update a tax return?
No. It's a running summary of category totals, nothing final, no payment attached. The tax return is the separate year-end step.
Do I pay tax four times a year now?
No. Payment dates and methods don't change under MTD: 31 January, plus payments on account once the bill reaches £1,000 and mostly wasn't collected at source.
When is my first MTD tax return due?
Start MTD in April 2026 and the 2026-27 return is due by 31 January 2028, through your software. The 2025-26 year is filed the old way, by 31 January 2027.
So what's actually new?
Digital records as you go, four quarterly summaries a year, and the return moving into your software. The tax itself, the bands, the deadlines for paying: all unchanged.
Records that are ready before you are
Snap receipts as you get them. Drive like you always do. SoleTax turns it all into MTD-ready digital records by category, so the quarterly deadlines and the year-end step start from done. 14 days free, no card needed.
Join the betaSources: gov.uk, use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (send quarterly updates; submit your tax return) and HMRC's agent toolkit on MTD penalties. Checked on 8 July 2026.