Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax you still send one tax return a year. It is often called the final declaration, which is the name HMRC used when the scheme was designed; HMRC's guidance now simply calls it your tax return. What has changed is how you get there: four quarterly updates during the year, then adjustments, then the return itself, all through compatible software, by 31 January after the tax year ends.
For anyone who started in April 2026, the first one is the 2026/27 tax return, due by 31 January 2028.
What the final declaration is
Your quarterly updates only send HMRC totals of your self-employment and property income and expenses. The tax return is where everything else happens: the adjustments that turn those totals into taxable profit, your other income, and the declaration that the whole picture is correct and complete. HMRC then produces your Self Assessment bill for the year from it.
It replaces the return you would have sent through HMRC's online Self Assessment service or your old software. It does not replace the quarterly updates, and you cannot submit it until all four updates for the year have been sent.
What happened to the end of period statement?
Earlier designs of Making Tax Digital had a separate end of period statement (EOPS) for each business, to be sent before the final declaration. HMRC's current guidance has no such step. After your fourth quarterly update you make any adjustments and then submit your tax return. If an article or a piece of software still asks you for an EOPS, it is out of date.
Step by step
1. Send your fourth quarterly update
It is due by 7 May after the tax year ends, and covers the whole year from 6 April. If you need to correct your records afterwards, or add expenses you left out for a jointly let property, you can resend it before you move on.
2. Make your year-end adjustments
These are made in your software, usually by changing a category's annual total rather than individual records:
- reliefs and allowances, such as the trading or property allowance, or Rent a Room relief;
- tax adjustments, such as taking out the private part of a phone bill or other costs you cannot claim;
- accounting adjustments, such as prepayments and accruals, if you use traditional accounting rather than the cash basis;
- accounting period adjustments, if your accounts do not run to 5 April;
- capital allowances for equipment and other assets.
For landlords this is also where residential finance costs, such as mortgage interest, are dealt with: they get relief as a basic-rate tax reduction in the calculation, not as an expense. See Section 24 explained.
3. Add your other income
The return has to include all your taxable income and gains, not just self-employment and property. HMRC adds some of it for you where it already holds the information:
- employment (PAYE) income;
- State, private and occupational pensions, and other taxable State benefits;
- student and postgraduate loan plan types;
- Construction Industry Scheme deductions;
- Capital Gains Tax on UK residential property you have already reported;
- Marriage Allowance claims.
You add the rest yourself, including savings interest, dividends (from your own company too), your share of partnership profit, payrolled benefits in kind that are not subject to Class 1A National Insurance, and any other income or gains HMRC has not added. Check what HMRC has added, as well as what you add.
4. Check the calculation and submit
Ask your software for the tax calculation, check it, and submit by declaring that the information is correct and complete to the best of your knowledge. Your software confirms when the return has gone.
Deadlines and payment
- You can submit any time from the end of the tax year up to 31 January. For 2026/27, that is 6 April 2027 to 31 January 2028.
- A late tax return earns a penalty point, including in 2026/27. See our MTD penalties guide.
- Payment dates do not change. The balancing payment is due by 31 January, with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you.
- The year before you joined is sent the old way. If you started in April 2026, your 2025/26 return is due by 31 January 2027 through your usual Self Assessment route.
Refunds and changes
- Refunds. HMRC says you cannot claim a refund within a tax return sent through Making Tax Digital. Its help and support guidance explains how to request one.
- Changing a submitted return. Use your software. You can change a return within 12 months of the submission deadline, and HMRC shows an updated calculation. Fix errors in your digital records before submitting rather than amending afterwards where you can.
Can I use different software for the tax return?
Yes. HMRC allows one product for records and quarterly updates and another just for the tax return, and it says software used only for the tax return gets your quarterly figures directly from HMRC, so it does not need linking to your records. Whatever you use has to be able to add all your other income before you submit.
If an accountant submits it for you
Only a main agent can submit your tax return; a supporting agent, such as a bookkeeper who sends your quarterly updates, cannot. Before submitting, your agent has to share the information with you and get your written confirmation that it is correct and complete.
Doing it in VoxaMTD
VoxaMTD sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income and submits the tax return, directly to HMRC's live Making Tax Digital service. It is not yet listed on HMRC's published software finder. Filing both is free. For landlords, VoxaMTD asks for the annual property details, such as capital allowances and Rent a Room, before it lets the return go. HMRC adds the income it holds, such as PAYE and pensions. VoxaMTD does not currently add other income, such as savings interest or dividends, so if you need to add income yourself, check your software can do it before the deadline.
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This guide summarises HMRC's published guidance as at 27 September 2026. It is general information, not tax advice.