Making Tax Digital: the 7 November quarterly update for UK landlords
Short answer: If your 2024 to 2025 tax return showed more than £50,000 of property and self-employment income before expenses, and no exemption applies, you are in MTD. Your next quarterly update, covering 6 April to 5 October, is due by 7 November 2026. Late updates earn no penalty points this year, but every update must be sent before your tax return.
Seven November is the second deadline of the first MTD year, not the first. The first update, covering 6 April to 5 July, was due on 7 August. HMRC says more than 436,000 sole traders and landlords sent it (HMRC, 12 August 2026). If you were not one of them, you can still send it now, with no penalty this year. Then 7 November is next.
We covered what MTD is, and how it works for owners living abroad, in our August piece on MTD for overseas landlords. This one is about the deadline: what is due, who owes it, and what to have in place by then.
When is the next Making Tax Digital quarterly update due?
HMRC runs two sets of update periods. Most landlords use standard periods, which follow the tax year. If your accounts run 1 April to 31 March, you may have chosen calendar periods instead. The deadlines are the same either way (Send quarterly updates, GOV.UK):
| Standard period | Calendar period | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July | 1 April to 30 June | 7 August 2026 |
| 6 April to 5 October | 1 April to 30 September | 7 November 2026 |
| 6 April to 5 January | 1 April to 31 December | 7 February 2027 |
| 6 April to 5 April | 1 April to 31 March | 7 May 2027 |
Note the periods. Each update is cumulative: it covers the tax year from the start to the end of the period, not just the last three months. So the 7 November update carries everything from 6 April onwards. You can send it any time after 5 October, and 7 November 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the last working day before it is Friday 6 November.
Am I in scope for Making Tax Digital from April 2026?
You must use MTD if you are a landlord or sole trader registered for Self Assessment and your qualifying income is over the threshold (Find out if and when you need to use MTD, GOV.UK). Qualifying income is your property and self-employment income before expenses, taken from the return you filed for an earlier year:
- over £50,000 on your 2024 to 2025 return: in from 6 April 2026
- over £30,000 on your 2025 to 2026 return: in from 6 April 2027
- over £20,000 on your 2026 to 2027 return: in from 6 April 2028
Two details catch landlords out. First, it is turnover, not profit. A portfolio that makes a modest profit after mortgage interest and repairs can still be well over the line. Second, jointly owned property counts at your share. GOV.UK's own example: a £50,000-a-year property split equally between two siblings gives each of them £25,000 of qualifying income (Work out your qualifying income, GOV.UK).
Some people are exempt. If you filed the SA109 residence pages with your 2024 to 2025 return, as many landlords living abroad do, you are automatically exempt for 2026 to 2027 (Find out if you can get an exemption, GOV.UK).
If you did not get a letter from HMRC, that does not mean you are out. GOV.UK is plain that it is still your responsibility to check. And from September 2026, HMRC started signing up people, in stages, who should be in MTD but have not signed up themselves, using only the information it already holds (Sign up for MTD, GOV.UK). Signing up yourself means your details are right from the start.
What do I need in place before 7 November?
Three things, in this order:
- Signed up. You, or your accountant, sign up through HMRC's service. If you joined part-way through the year, you must catch up your records from the start of the tax year (1 April on calendar periods); they go into your first update.
- Compatible software. Updates can only be sent through software that works with MTD for Income Tax. GOV.UK tells you to check with the provider that it meets your needs.
- Digital records. Every item of rent and every property expense since the start of the tax year, recorded in that software (Create digital records, GOV.UK). You still keep the originals: bank statements, invoices, agent statements.
An update is a summary, not a return. HMRC receives category totals, not your receipts. If nothing came in and nothing went out in the period, you still send one.
What happens if I miss the 7 November deadline?
For 2026 to 2027 only, there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline. This is HMRC's own wording (Penalties for MTD for Income Tax, GOV.UK). It is a soft landing, not an exemption:
- you must still send every quarterly update before you can submit your 2026 to 2027 tax return
- late tax returns and late payments are still penalised this year
- from the 2027 to 2028 tax year, each missed quarterly deadline earns a penalty point (one per deadline, and missed tax return deadlines count too), and reaching 4 points means a £200 penalty, with another £200 for each later missed deadline
The points regime sits in Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2021 (penalties for failure to make returns). The digital record-keeping rules are in The Income Tax (Digital Requirements) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/1076). Use this year to build the habit, because next year the clock counts.
I own a property jointly. Does anything change?
Yes, a little. For jointly let property, GOV.UK lets you send income only in your quarterly updates and add the expenses at the end of the year, by resending your fourth update before your tax return. You also do not need to link your digital records to your co-owner's. Any property you own outright still needs income and expenses each quarter. Agree with your co-owner, and your accountants, who is recording what.
What does a letting agent have to do with MTD?
Nothing in law, and a lot in practice. Your agent collects the rent and pays the bills, so the agent's statement is usually the only place the true numbers live. GOV.UK is specific here: if you only know your income after expenses were deducted, you must ask what the full amount was, then record the full income and the expenses separately.
That is the trap. The figure in your bank account each month is net. MTD wants gross rent and itemised costs.
On a managed property, our monthly statement already splits it: gross rent collected, our fee, any repair or bill we paid on your behalf, and the net paid to you. Our property management service reconciles every month, so that breakdown exists whatever the quarter. If you live abroad and tax is withheld, the statement also carries the NRL withholding line, explained on our overseas landlords page.
We won't tell you which software to buy, and we won't file your updates for you. That is your accountant's job. What we will do is make sure the rent figures we hand them are right. For tax advice, we introduce clients to YWC London LLP, Chartered Certified Accountants. We take no referral fee.
Sources
- Send quarterly updates — Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Create digital records — Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK
- 436,000 sole traders and landlords make their tax digital, HMRC, 12 August 2026
- Finance Act 2021, Schedule 24 — legislation.gov.uk
- The Income Tax (Digital Requirements) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/1076 — legislation.gov.uk
Book a free rental appraisal. We will show you what your property should let for, and the monthly statement your accountant will be working from. Book a free rental appraisal.
General information, not tax advice. Your position depends on your circumstances — take advice from a qualified accountant.