7 May 2027:
the quarterly update deadline explained

The fourth quarterly update is the one that closes the first year of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It is due by 7 May 2027, a month after the tax year ends, and carries your business income and expenses for the whole of 2026 to 2027. It is also the last quarterly update to which HMRC's first-year easement applies: from the next tax year, a late update earns a penalty point.

This page explains what the fourth update contains, how it differs from the tax return that comes after it, and what changes once it is sent.

“HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year.”

What the fourth update covers

The fourth update period runs to the last day of the tax year. On standard update periods that is 5 April 2027; on calendar ones it is 31 March 2027. Both have the same deadline, 7 May 2027, which the regulations set as 7 May in the tax year that follows.

Because quarterly updates are cumulative, the fourth is the full year's business figures. If you have kept your records up to date and sent the first three updates, there is nothing new to learn: your software carries the totals on to the end of the year, you check them and send. If you made corrections during the year, they are already in. HMRC's manual on corrections says there is no requirement to resubmit an earlier update.

The fourth update is not the tax return

It is easy to treat the fourth update as the end of the year's work. It is not. The quarterly updates report your business income and expenses as they stand. The tax return, the step GOV.UK now calls submitting your tax return and many people still call the final declaration, is where the year is finished:

• Adjustments. Accounting adjustments, such as private use of a vehicle or home, disallowable items and capital allowances, are made at year end.
• Reliefs and allowances. Pension contributions, Gift Aid and other reliefs are claimed on the return.
• Other income. Employment income, savings interest, dividends and capital gains go on the return; none of them are in the quarterly updates.
• The bill. The return works out your tax for the year and the balancing payment.

The 2026 to 2027 return is due by 31 January 2028, through compatible software. GOV.UK says you need to send your quarterly updates before you are able to submit it, so the fourth update is a gate as well as a summary. The page on the 31 January 2028 deadline covers the return itself.

Joint landlords: the fourth update gets sent twice

There is one case where the fourth update is deliberately resent. For jointly let properties, GOV.UK lets you choose to include either property income and expenses, or property income only, in your quarterly updates. If you choose not to include your expenses during the year, you must report them after the end of the tax year, and you do that by resending your fourth quarterly update, now with the expenses, before you submit your tax return.

So a joint landlord who sent income only might send the fourth update by 7 May 2027 with the year's rent, then resend it later in the year with the full set of expenses, then submit the return. Only your share of the jointly let property is recorded, as GOV.UK says you only need digital records for your share of income and expenses.

Penalty points for a late quarterly update, by tax year

• Late update, 2026 to 2027 tax year0 points
• Late update, 2027 to 2028 onwards1 point
• Points that trigger a £200 penalty4 points

The last update without points

From the 2027 to 2028 tax year, HMRC's points system applies to quarterly updates. GOV.UK says that after the 2026 to 2027 tax year, if you do not send your quarterly update by the relevant deadline, you will get a late submission penalty point, and if you reach 4 points you will get a £200 penalty. Each further missed deadline at the threshold brings another £200.

The first deadline that counts is 7 August 2027, for the first update of 2027 to 2028. That makes the fourth update of 2026 to 2027 a useful dry run. If you sent any of this year's updates late, work out why before the points start. Common causes are records left until the deadline week, statements that arrive after the period closes, and confusion over which period a deadline belongs to.

You can only get one penalty point per deadline, even if you run more than one business and send more than one update late for it. Points are separate from any VAT penalty points.

Changing your update periods for next year

You cannot change between standard and calendar update periods during a tax year once you have sent an update. A new tax year is a new choice. If the year has shown that the other option suits your bookkeeping better, the time to change is before you send the first update of 2027 to 2028. The guide to standard and calendar quarters explains the trade-off, and GOV.UK's guidance on changes in your circumstances covers how to tell HMRC.

Stopping or starting a business in the year

If you stopped trading during 2026 to 2027, the guidance on changes in your circumstances explains what to send. If you started a new business partway through the year, it needs its own updates. Your HMRC online account shows the obligations HMRC expects for each business, and they should match what your software shows before you send the fourth update.

If you miss 7 May 2027

There are no penalty points for a late quarterly update in 2026 to 2027, and that includes the fourth update. It is still owed, and the tax return cannot be submitted until every update for the year has been sent, so a late fourth update holds up the return. Send it as soon as you can.

For sole traders, landlords and gig workers

Sole traders. The fourth update is where a year's worth of small errors shows up. Before sending, compare the year's income total with your bank statements and invoices, and look at the expense categories for anything in the wrong place, especially a large "other expenses" figure.

Landlords. Check that rent for the last weeks of March is in, and that any deposit you hold is not counted as income. Remember the resend if you let jointly and left expenses out.

Gig and platform workers. Platforms publish annual statements, but some cover the calendar year rather than the tax year. Your update needs figures to 5 April (or 31 March), so use the periodic statements that line up with the tax year.

A year-end checklist before you send

The fourth update is the last chance to put the year's records right before the figures feed the tax return. Working through these in April saves a harder job in January:

1. Reconcile income. Compare the year's income total with what reached your bank and with the invoices you raised. Any invoice raised but never paid, or paid into a personal account, shows up here.
2. Look at the biggest expenses. A purchase of equipment, a vehicle or a large repair may need to be treated as a capital item rather than an everyday expense. Your software records it either way; the treatment is settled on the return.
3. Check the "other expenses" line. If a large share of your costs sits there, recategorise what you can. HMRC accepts it, but specific categories give a truer picture.
4. Find the personal items. Mixed-use costs, such as a phone or a car used partly for the business, need only the business share in your figures, or a full figure with the private share taken off at year end.
5. Confirm the period. Make sure nothing dated after 5 April 2027 (or 31 March on calendar periods) has crept in, and that nothing from before 6 April 2026 has either.
6. Keep the evidence. Receipts, statements and invoices behind the figures need to be kept after you send. Your digital records are the starting point if HMRC ever asks.

Once the fourth update has gone, the figures it carries are the starting point for the return. Any change you make to the records afterwards flows through when you submit the return, so keep the software up to date rather than editing figures somewhere else.

After 7 May

The first update of the next tax year is due by 7 August 2027. It is the first deadline for people with qualifying income over £30,000, and the first with penalty points. The 2026 to 2027 tax return is due by 31 January 2028. The deadlines hub lists every date, and the earlier February update page covers how the updates build through the year. The sole trader and rental income calculators estimate the year's bill from the figures in your fourth update, and the overview of deadlines from 2026 to 2028 puts them in one place.