MTD quarter tracker and payments on account planner
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies if your self-employment and property income before expenses was over £50,000 in 2024/25 (from 6 April 2026), over £30,000 in 2025/26 (from 6 April 2027) or over £20,000 in 2026/27 (from 6 April 2028). Enter your figures to see when it applies to you, your quarterly deadlines, what to set aside and your 31 January and 31 July payments.
Reviewed by James Whitfield · Last reviewed 1 November 2026 · This is an estimate and a personal record, not advice. It does not send anything to HMRC and it is not MTD software.
Does Making Tax Digital apply to you?
Not yet on what you've entered. Add your income for 2024/25, 2025/26, 2026/27 to see the full answer.
HMRC writes to people it expects to qualify, but checking is your responsibility. To sign up you must be registered for Self Assessment and have sent a return in the last 2 years. You still send a normal tax return for the year before you start. Check with HMRC's tool.
Your 2026/27 deadlines
Not required this year7 August 2026
Not required this year7 November 2026
Not required this year7 February 2027
Not required this year7 May 2027
GOV.UK guidance
You would not be required to use MTD this year. If you volunteer, penalties don't apply to late quarterly updates, but they do to late returns. HMRC penalties guidance.
Tax to set aside
Enter a quarter's income and expenses above to see an estimate.
Your 31 January and 31 July payments
Balance for 2025/26Enter figures
2nd payment on account for 2026/27Enter figures
Balance for 2026/27, plus 1st payment on account for 2027/28Enter figures
2nd payment on account for 2027/28Enter figures
HMRC's statement is the final word on what you owe. You can ask to reduce payments on account if your income falls, but HMRC charges interest if they turn out too low. Later amounts depend on the estimate above.
How it works
- When MTD applies. We add self-employment and property income before expenses for each tax year and compare it with that year's threshold. It must be over the limit: exactly £50,000 is not.
- Deadlines. Updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, for both standard and calendar periods.
- Tax to set aside. We scale your profit so far up to a full year, then run the site's own engine for Income Tax, Class 4 National Insurance and any student loan, at 2026/27 rates. Class 4 applies to trading profit only. The percentage is applied to each quarter's profit.
- Payments. Each payment on account is half of last year's Income Tax and Class 4, unless that bill was under £1,000 or more than 80% of your tax was paid at source. Student loan repayments go in the balancing payment, not in payments on account.
It leaves out capital allowances, the trading allowance, losses from other years, dividends, savings and capital gains. It can't tell if you are exempt, and it doesn't cover partnership income. Starting partway through a year? HMRC scales your income up to a full year, so do the same before you enter it. Check whether you can get an exemption.
Worked example
Sam is a sole trader with turnover of £38,000 in 2025/26. That is over £30,000, so Sam starts on 6 April 2027. Sam's first update, for 6 April to 5 July 2027, is due on 7 August 2027. That quarter's income is £11,000 and expenses are £3,000, so profit is £8,000.
Scaled up to a year, that is £32,000 of profit, with an estimated bill of £5,051.80 at 2026/27 rates: £3,886.00 of Income Tax and £1,165.80 of Class 4. That is 15.8% of profit, so Sam moves about £1,263 of the first quarter's profit to a tax account. No tax is paid with the update: the 2027/28 balance is due on 31 January 2029.
Official sources (checked 1 November 2026)
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Send quarterly updates: update periods and deadlines
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- Budget 2026: overview of tax legislation and rates, paragraph on Making Tax Digital quarterly updates
- Understand your Self Assessment tax bill: payments on account
- Apply for an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Read more: Making Tax Digital for sole traders, MTD quarterly updates and payments on account.