Making Tax Digital · Sole traders
Six steps for the days before an MTD filing deadline
ONLY£15A MONTHThe last few days before filing are best used in a clear order.
The last few days before filing are best used in a clear order. Access comes before submission, complete records come before review, and acceptance comes after sending. This six-step guide helps identify what to do next without treating every account as equally ready.
Follow the six steps
- Confirm access: check MTD status, software authorisation and the correct business.
- Check coverage: identify every bank, cash and payment-provider source for the reporting period.
- Resolve exceptions: investigate missing receipts, private entries, transfers and duplicates.
- Review the summary: compare category totals with the reconciled records and record annual follow-up questions.
- Approve and submit: complete the agreed approval process and send through the supported route.
- Verify and retain: confirm the accepted outcome and save it with the figures approved.
These are dependencies rather than a promise that each takes one day. A complex missing source can take longer than a straightforward review. Allocate time according to the actual issue.
Keep the date context clear
The first 2026/27 update was due on 7 August 2026. If reading this afterwards, use the same sequence for catch-up or the next relevant deadline. An old countdown does not change the business's obligation or the rules applicable to that year.
Worked example: a failed authorisation
A user completes the bookkeeping but discovers at submission that software access needs attention. The six-step sequence would have identified that dependency before the final review.
The user now follows the supported authorisation process, then rechecks the business and period before sending. Access restored does not itself submit the prepared update.
A review that checks more than the total
Start with coverage: the correct person, business and period, plus all relevant accounts and cash records. Then look at completeness. A feed can be connected today while still missing an earlier week. Confirm the earliest and latest transactions against the source.
Next, inspect unusual items. Large transfers, loan receipts, refunds, net settlements and private purchases often need more context than a bank description provides. Check for duplicate imports where a statement overlaps a live feed. An automatic warning is useful evidence to investigate, not proof that the entry must be removed.
Finally, review category totals. A category unexpectedly showing zero, a large increase or a negative amount deserves an explanation. You do not have to make every annual tax adjustment at this stage, but you should understand the records behind the summary you approve.
HMRC explains what quarterly updates contain. Keep the approved version and the resulting acknowledgement together. If something later changes, correct the source record and use the software's supported update process so you can explain which figures are current.
Keep the reporting dates separate from payment dates
The standard first update for 2026/27 covers 6 April to 5 July 2026 and was due by 7 August 2026. The second covers 6 April to 5 October 2026 and is due by 7 November 2026. The third and fourth deadlines are 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027. These are cumulative updates, not four isolated sets of three-month totals.
Calendar periods have different cut-offs and the same filing deadlines. Check the setting for each business rather than assuming the dates from a bank statement. HMRC lists both reporting calendars.
The annual return for 2026/27 is due by 31 January 2028. The earlier 2025/26 return normally remains due online by 31 January 2027. Keeping those years distinct avoids a common transition-year misunderstanding.
Payments on account, where required, follow their own January and July timetable. An update acknowledgement confirms a reporting event; it does not confirm that an outstanding tax bill has been paid. Check your actual HMRC account and payment obligations separately from the software's progress indicators.
Understand the first-year concession
HMRC states that there are no penalties for missing quarterly-update deadlines for the 2026/27 tax year. That concession does not remove the digital-record or quarterly-reporting obligations, and it does not make all tax returns and payments penalty-free. Read the precise penalty guidance.
Outstanding quarterly reporting must be dealt with before completing the relevant annual return. However, a missed August 2026 update should not be described as an automatic penalty on the separate 2025/26 return due in January 2027. The 2026/27 annual-return deadline is January 2028.
After the first-year concession, the points rules apply to missed quarterly deadlines as described by HMRC. Do not assume that multiple businesses create multiple points at the same deadline. Annual-return rules, late-payment penalties and interest require their own checks.
If you have fallen behind, establish what is outstanding and work through the supported catch-up process. Keep evidence of technical problems and contact the appropriate support team with the business, period and error details. The useful next step is a complete record and an accepted update, rather than guessing what a generic warning might mean.
Record the next action, not just the problem
For each incomplete step, name the owner, evidence needed and next action. Ask support a precise question where necessary. Finish by checking every relevant business, especially if one person has both a trade and rental income.
Take the next step
Avona.app offers a self-service route from £15/month. Bring your records together, review the figures and choose a workflow that fits your business. For professional help, discuss the scope and total price of Avona Concierge, managed by chartered accountants, before choosing a service.