Making Tax Digital for Farmers: 7 November Update

Farmers already in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax have a second quarterly update due on 7 November 2026, and the next group joins on 6 April 2027. This explainer sets out the dates, who is caught and what to check, as of 26 October 2026.

Blog 26 October 2026 9 min read

Quick answer

As of 26 October 2026, the second Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly update is due on Saturday 7 November 2026 from farmers whose qualifying income was over £50,000 on their 2024 to 2025 return. It covers 6 April to 5 October and is cumulative. This week, send it from HMRC-recognised software, then test your 2025 to 2026 turnover against the £30,000 threshold for April 2027. The thresholds guide has the detail.

What is due on 7 November 2026 in the farmers' quarterly update?

The second Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly update for 2026 to 2027 is due on 7 November 2026. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is HMRC's system in which sole traders and landlords keep digital records and send income and expense summaries through software. On the standard tax-year schedule the update covers 6 April to 5 October. A farm that chose calendar periods covers 1 April to 30 September. GOV.UK's quarterly update guidance gives both sets of dates and says each update runs from the start of the tax year, so the figures are year-to-date totals.

7 November 2026 falls on a Saturday. The GOV.UK pages we read give no later date for a weekend, so treat Friday 6 November as your working deadline. HMRC receives only category totals, not individual receipts or invoices. The steps from sign-up to the final return are in our sign-up and quarterly updates guide.

Key dates, which match HMRC's own quarterly updates timeline:

7 November 2026: second quarterly update due (standard period 6 April to 5 October).
31 January 2027: 2025 to 2026 Self Assessment return due; HMRC's test for the £30,000 step in April 2027.
6 April 2027: MTD for Income Tax starts for those over £30,000 on the 2025 to 2026 return.
7 February and 7 May 2027: third and fourth updates due.
7 August 2027: first update for 2027 to 2028 due on the standard schedule, and so the first for farms joining in April 2027.

Who is already in Making Tax Digital, and who joins in 2027 and 2028?

Sole traders and landlords are in once their qualifying income passes a threshold. Qualifying income is turnover from self-employment and property before expenses, so a farm with thin margins and large sales can be caught. GOV.UK sets three steps: over £50,000 for 2024 to 2025, in from 6 April 2026; over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026, from 6 April 2027; and over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027, from 6 April 2028. Our Making Tax Digital thresholds guide has worked farm examples, so we do not repeat them here.

HMRC works out your qualifying income from the Self Assessment return you filed for the previous tax year, but GOV.UK says to check it yourself. All self-employment and property sources are added together, so a let cottage or barn conversion joins the farm figure. Employment pay, dividends and pensions are left out. To check for April 2027, total the turnover from every farm and property source for 2025 to 2026, which is the return due by 31 January 2027.

Which farmers are affected: sole traders, partnerships and profit averagers?

Sole traders and landlords are in, and partnerships are not yet. A sole trader farming beef, sheep or a mix is tested on their own turnover. GOV.UK says partnerships will need to use the service in future, with the timeline to follow. Your share of partnership profit does not count towards your qualifying income, but self-employment or property income in your own name does. A partner who also lets a cottage personally is tested on that cottage income.

Farmers who use profit averaging have a temporary exemption. GOV.UK says you need not use the service for 2026 to 2027 if your 2024 to 2025 return claimed averaging as an individual on the SA103 supplementary page, and you need not contact HMRC. If you claimed as a partner on the SA104 page, or expect to claim without having done so in 2024 to 2025, you must apply. It is a pause: with qualifying income above £30,000 in 2025 to 2026, you need the service from 2027 to 2028. Averaging relief does not change your qualifying income. Our profit averaging guide covers the rules.

What does a farm's Making Tax Digital quarterly update contain?

A quarterly update is a set of cumulative category totals, not a mini tax return. Your software adds up the digital records and sends HMRC a total for each income and expense category, using the Self Assessment categories. For each record, GOV.UK says you keep the amount, the date and the category, plus original documents such as bank statements and invoices, for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year. Programs you use together must be digitally linked.

Cash basis or traditional accounting changes the year end, not the quarterly rhythm. After the fourth update, GOV.UK says cash basis users need no accounting adjustments, while traditional accounting users adjust annual totals for items such as prepayments and accruals. The GOV.UK pages we read do not mention livestock or closing stock. Our guides explain that cash basis farms do not value stock, while traditional accounting values it at the lower of cost and net realisable value, so ask your accountant how your software takes that figure. See cash basis versus traditional accounting and herd basis and stock valuation.

What does it mean in money and paperwork terms: penalties, software and records?

There is no penalty for a late quarterly update in 2026 to 2027. GOV.UK states there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for that tax year, though you must still keep digital records and send the updates before you can submit your tax return. Points start for tax years after 2026 to 2027. Each missed update or return deadline earns one point, four points bring a £200 penalty, and each further missed deadline another £200. On that wording the easement covers 2026 to 2027 only, so a farm starting on 6 April 2027 is in a year when points apply.

The software must have passed HMRC's recognition. HMRC's software finder lists products that have been through that process, and HMRC does not recommend any of them. Bridging software connects to records you already keep, such as a spreadsheet, but only some products can send quarterly updates and returns. Our farm accounting software comparison shows what suppliers say as of October 2026, and the bookkeeping software checklist lists the farm questions to ask.

FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK livestock farms, in beta. It keeps receipts and invoices in one place, and Ask Farmer Joe drafts entries for you to confirm, so the totals your accountant or recognised software needs are easier to pull together. It does not file Making Tax Digital updates to HMRC. Filing follows in 2027, and FarmHQ is not on HMRC's software finder today, so keep a recognised package for the update itself. See FarmHQ pricing.

What is still unknown or disputed?

Partnerships have no start date. GOV.UK says the timeline will be set out later. No source we read extends the 2026 to 2027 penalty easement into 2027 to 2028, and we do not guess whether that will change.

Sources conflict on the 2028 step. GOV.UK's current guidance says over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027, from 6 April 2028. Some third-party guides found in search give £25,000, and were written before that guidance. We trust GOV.UK, whose page was last updated on 26 March 2026.

Two details sit outside the pages we read. GOV.UK points to a separate quarterly update direction for the full list of categories, which we did not open, so ask your software supplier or accountant for the farm categories. And the GOV.UK pages say nothing specific about herd basis, stock or livestock inside quarterly updates, so treat that as an accountant question.

What should a farmer do this week?

This is general information, not tax advice, so take your own figures to your accountant. The livestock deadlines calendar shows how these dates sit beside the statutory ones.

By Friday 6 November 2026: send the second update from recognised software (6 April to 5 October, or 1 April to 30 September on calendar periods).
This week: gather bank statements, invoices and receipts for April to October so the category totals match the paperwork. Our farm bookkeeping and HMRC records guide lists what to keep.
Ask your accountant: cash basis or traditional accounting, how closing stock and herd basis are handled, whether averaging applies (SA103 or SA104), and whether they will send updates as your agent.
Before 31 January 2027: file your 2025 to 2026 return and total turnover from every farm and property source against £30,000.
If over £30,000: choose software from HMRC's finder and sign up. GOV.UK says you can sign up for the current or next tax year, and an agent can do it for you.
6 April 2027: your start date if the 2025 to 2026 return is over £30,000.
7 August 2027: first update of 2027 to 2028 on the standard schedule.
Keep records for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline.

What do farmers actually ask?

When is the next Making Tax Digital quarterly update due for farmers?

The second update for 2026 to 2027 is due on 7 November 2026, which is a Saturday. On the standard tax-year schedule it covers 6 April to 5 October, and on calendar periods 1 April to 30 September. It is cumulative, so it includes the first quarter. The third is due 7 February 2027 and the fourth 7 May 2027.

Is there a penalty for a late quarterly update in 2026 to 2027?

No. GOV.UK says there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, but you must still send the updates before submitting your tax return. Penalty points for late quarterly updates start for later tax years. Four points bring a £200 penalty, and each further missed deadline adds another £200.

Who has to join Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in April 2027?

Sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income was over £30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year start on 6 April 2027. Qualifying income is turnover from self-employment and property before expenses. HMRC takes it from your Self Assessment return, which is due by 31 January 2027, but you should check it yourself.

Do farm partnerships have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?

Not yet. GOV.UK says partnerships will need to use the service in future and that the timeline will be set out later. Your share of partnership profit does not count towards your qualifying income, but self-employment or property income in your own name does, such as a cottage you let personally.

Do farmers who use profit averaging have to send quarterly updates?

Not for 2026 to 2027 if your 2024 to 2025 return claimed averaging as an individual on the SA103 page, and you need not contact HMRC. Partners who used the SA104 page, or who expect to claim, must apply for an exemption. It is temporary: above £30,000 in 2025 to 2026, you join from 2027 to 2028.

What does a farm quarterly update include?

It includes cumulative totals for each income and expense category from 6 April to the end of the period, sent from HMRC-recognised software. HMRC does not receive individual receipts or invoices, but you must keep them, with your digital records, for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year.