31 January 2028:
the tax return deadline explained

The first year of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax ends on 31 January 2028, with the 2026 to 2027 tax return. It is the first return submitted through compatible software rather than in the way people have filed Self Assessment until now, and it is the first to fall under the new penalties for late returns and late payment.

For the people who started in April 2026, the return comes after four quarterly updates. The updates have already told HMRC your business income and expenses. The return finishes the year: it adds what the updates do not cover, works out the tax, and is the point at which the year's figures become final.

“Your 2026 to 2027 tax return must be submitted through compatible software by 31 January 2028.”

Final declaration or tax return?

The year-end step has had several names. Early HMRC material called it the final declaration, and before that there was a separate end of period statement for each business. The end of period statement has gone, and current GOV.UK guidance simply calls the year-end step submitting your tax return, through your Making Tax Digital software. Many people, and many software products, still say final declaration. They mean the same thing: the 2026 to 2027 return due by 31 January 2028.

What the return adds to your quarterly updates

GOV.UK's timetable describes the return as the point where you check if you need to make any adjustments, claim reliefs or allowances, check and add other income or gains, and pay your tax bill.

Before you can start, the four quarterly updates for 2026 to 2027 must have gone. GOV.UK says you will need to send your quarterly updates before you are able to submit your tax return. If you let property jointly and left expenses out of your updates, you report them by resending your fourth update before you submit, as the 7 May 2027 page explains.

You can submit the return any time after the updates are in. GOV.UK says it must be submitted by 31 January following the end of the tax year, but you can submit it earlier.

What you pay on 31 January 2028

Making Tax Digital does not change how you pay or when. On 31 January 2028 the usual Self Assessment payments are due:

• the balancing payment for 2026 to 2027: the tax for the year, less any payments on account already made on 31 January and 31 July 2027;
• the first payment on account for 2027 to 2028, if you make them: half of your 2026 to 2027 bill.

You do not need to make payments on account if your last bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of your tax was paid outside Self Assessment.

The new penalties for a late return

This is the first return under the points system. GOV.UK says that if you miss the deadline for submitting your tax return, you will receive a late submission penalty point. The penalty point threshold for Making Tax Digital is 4 points. At 4 points, you get a £200 penalty, and £200 again each time you miss another submission deadline.

GOV.UK lists no other penalty for a late return under the new rules: no £100 on day one, no daily penalties and no 5% charges at 6 and 12 months. That makes a single late return far cheaper than under the old system, and it is deliberate. In HMRC's words, you will avoid a penalty if you make a one-off mistake.

For 2026 to 2027 specifically, late quarterly updates earn no points. So for most people in the first group, a late 2026 to 2027 return on its own adds one point and no fine. The points become more important from 2027 to 2028, when each quarterly update counts too.

The new penalties for paying late

Late payment penalties are separate from the points and apply to each late payment. For tax owed for 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK's table sets them out:

Late payment penalty rates, by how late the tax is paid

• Up to 15 days late0%
• 16 to 30 days late3% (none in your first year)
• 31 days or more late3% + 3%, then 10% a year

Three details matter:

• Your first year. GOV.UK says that in your first year of new penalties, you have 30 days from the payment due date to make full payment or contact HMRC to set up a payment plan before penalties start. After the first year this reduces to 15 days.
• Payment plans pause penalties. If a payment plan is agreed and you keep to it, penalties are paused from the date you contacted HMRC.
• Payments on account are excluded. Late payment penalties do not apply to payments on account. Interest still does.

Late payment interest is charged from the first day the payment is late until it is paid in full, at the Bank of England base rate plus 4%. The late payment interest calculator works out the cost for your figures.

Getting ready for the return

The return will go more smoothly if the year's quarterly figures are right. Over the summer and autumn of 2027:

1. Check the fourth update. It is the starting point. If you have spotted mistakes since May, correct the records in your software.
2. Collect what the updates do not hold. P60 or payslips for employment income, interest and dividend statements, pension contribution records, Gift Aid donations and any disposals for capital gains.
3. Work out adjustments. Private use of a vehicle, phone or home, and anything bought for the business that should be treated as a capital item.
4. Estimate the bill early. The sole trader and rental income calculators give a quick figure, and the quarterly planner shows what to set aside.
5. Submit, then pay by 31 January 2028. If you cannot pay in full, contact HMRC about a payment plan before the deadline.

For landlords, sole traders and gig workers

Landlords finalise each property business on the return. Joint owners who sent income only during the year report their expenses before submitting, by resending the fourth update. The return is also where property income is brought together with your other income to work out the tax.

Sole traders with more than one trade carry each trade's figures into the same return. The tax calculation covers them all, together with any other income.

Gig and platform workers often have the largest gap between turnover and profit. The return is where mileage claims and vehicle cost choices take full effect, so make sure the business miles behind any simplified mileage claim are recorded for the whole year.

How points build up over the first two years

For someone in the first group, the points system starts quietly and then speeds up.

So by the time the 2026 to 2027 return is due, the 2027 to 2028 updates for August and November 2027 have already counted. Someone who missed both of those and then files this return late would be on 3 points, one deadline away from a £200 penalty. Points below the threshold are removed automatically 24 months after the missed deadline, and you only ever get one point per deadline, however many businesses you run.

If an agent files for you

Many people use an accountant for the year-end step even if they send their own quarterly updates. GOV.UK says that if your agent uses compatible software to keep digital records and submits them to HMRC, they can meet the requirements of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on your behalf. The deadlines and penalties are the same whoever submits: the point for a late return is still yours.

If you joined late in the year

If HMRC signed you up during 2026 to 2027, or you signed up late yourself, the same order applies. HMRC's guidance for people it signed up says you still need to keep digital records and send your final quarterly update for the year before you can submit your tax return. Catch up any overdue updates first; the return cannot go until they have.

After 31 January 2028

By the time the first group submits this return, the second year is well under way: the first two updates of 2027 to 2028 were due on 7 August 2027 and 7 November 2027, and the third is due on 7 February 2028. On 6 April 2028 the threshold drops to £20,000. Every date is on the deadlines hub. For the year before, the 31 January 2027 page covers the last ordinary return, and the glossary explains the final declaration, balancing payment and penalty points.