Once April 2026 arrives, everyone who is within the first phase of MTD for Income Tax should be geared up for the first quarterly update, which is due to be filed on 7 August 2026 and cover the 3 months to June 2026.

If your 2024/25 return shows that you, as a sole trader/individual, have combined trading and property income over £50,000, expect HMRC to include you in the first tranche.

Of course, VAT returns will continue to be due on your normal quarters as before, so these will have to fit in with your ever more complex yearly filing schedule.

Whether you are within MTD or not yet, consider whether you want your VAT quarters to coincide with the calendar quarters and the MTD updates. Do you want to do both at the same time, or would you prefer them to be staggered? They will be separate submissions, although your accounting software should do most of the heavy lifting for you.

The 2026 tax returns will need to be filed during the period from 6 April 2026 to 31 January 2027.

Consider getting your  2025/26 self-assessment return completed early so that it does not get in the way of the VAT and MTD submissions in January 2027. Otherwise, January 2027 could be a bit stressful, and you’ve only just got over Christmas and New Year.

MTD IT is the biggest change since self-assessment was introduced in the 1990s. It will prompt at least some degree of reorganisation. It will also introduce significantly more deadlines and “penalty opportunities” for HMRC.