HMRC is taking sign-up out of taxpayers’ hands. It confirmed in August that from this month it would start enrolling sole traders and landlords who were mandated back in April but haven’t registered.
HMRC’s August update put sign-ups above 570,000, against the 864,000 it expected. If you’re in that gap, the question that tends to follow is the same one: what happens at the end of the year?
What is the Final Declaration?
The Final Declaration is the year-end submission you make under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA), HMRC’s digital reporting regime for sole traders and landlords.
It confirms the figures from your four quarterly updates, adds your other income, applies your reliefs and allowances, and settles your tax position for the year.
In the Final Declaration vs Self Assessment question, this is the point where readers can go wrong. It isn’t an extra form stacked on top of your tax return. It is your tax return.
Final Declaration vs Self Assessment: replace or add?
It replaces it. For any tax year you’re inside MTD, the MTD ITSA Final Declaration is how you file. The SA100 paper return and HMRC’s free online service are both closed to you.
Put simply, quarterly updates and one year-end return replace Self Assessment filing altogether.
The longer answer is that the timing hasn’t moved. The Final Declaration deadline is 31 January following the end of the tax year, exactly as the SA100 deadline was. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, that means 31 January 2028.
What changes is the route rather than the date. You file through MTD-compatible software, meaning a commercial package or spreadsheet tool that can talk to HMRC’s systems directly. HMRC has confirmed it isn’t building a free filing option of its own.
Our guide to what a Final Declaration is for ITSA goes deeper on the submission itself, including what your software needs to be able to do.
Why HMRC no longer says ‘Final Declaration’
Here’s the thing: HMRC has quietly retired the phrase.
Its own style guide for Making Tax Digital instructs writers to drop the phrase from anything a taxpayer sees, and to write tax return instead.
The live GOV.UK guidance on submitting your tax return under MTD follows that rule, describing the year-end filing as a tax return throughout.
That older term hasn’t disappeared. Software providers, accountants and a great deal of published guidance still use it, which is why both labels remain in circulation.
The End of Period Statement (EOPS) has gone too. Earlier versions of MTD placed an EOPS between the quarterly updates and the year-end filing, as a business-by-business confirmation step. With the EOPS scrapped, the MTD final declaration is the only year-end step left after your four quarterly updates.
If you’ve read older guidance that mentions an End of Period Statement, you can disregard that step.
Who is affected right now?
MTD for Income Tax is being phased in by income level rather than switched on for everyone at once. Your position depends on your qualifying income, which is your combined gross income from self-employment and property, measured before any expenses are deducted.
Where the thresholds currently sit:
- Over £50,000 in qualifying income: mandated from 6 April 2026, making the 2026 to 2027 tax year the first under MTD.
- Over £30,000: mandated from 6 April 2027.
- Over £20,000: mandated from 6 April 2028.
HMRC works out which group you fall into from your most recently filed tax return. A return for the 2024 to 2025 tax year showing more than £50,000 of qualifying income put you in scope from April 2026.
Working out whether you’re over that line is fiddlier than it sounds, because only certain boxes on the return count. Our MTD qualifying income guide sets out which figures HMRC actually adds together.
Partnerships and limited companies sit outside MTD for Income Tax. A range of exemptions also exists, some applying automatically and others needing an application to HMRC.
What changes for you?
Day to day, record-keeping is the real shift. Quarterly updates are cumulative summaries of business income and expenses, due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. They aren’t miniature tax returns, and no tax falls due when you send one.
Payment dates are untouched. Your balancing payment and your payments on account, which are advance instalments towards the following year’s bill, stay on 31 January and 31 July.
One quirk is worth knowing early: if you think you’re owed a refund, you can’t claim it inside the MTD return itself.
Worked example
Sarah is a self-employed graphic designer. Her return for the 2024 to 2025 tax year showed £62,000 of qualifying income, so she was mandated into MTD from 6 April 2026.
For the 2026 to 2027 tax year she sends four quarterly updates, on 7 August 2026, 7 November 2026, 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027. Her Final Declaration is then due by 31 January 2028.
Sarah also earns £8,000 from part-time teaching and £400 in savings interest. HMRC adds the PAYE employment figure to her return automatically, while the savings interest is hers to enter. Both sit alongside her confirmed self-employment figures in that single year-end submission.
She files no separate SA100 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
There’s a transitional wrinkle, though. Her return for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is still an ordinary SA100, due by 31 January 2027. For a spell, the two systems run side by side.
If you’re outside MTD for now
Nothing changes yet. Your Self Assessment tax return works as it does today if your qualifying income sits below £20,000, or if your only income is taxed through PAYE. The same holds if you file for some other reason entirely.
You carry on filing the SA100 by 31 January online, or by the earlier October deadline on paper. Our Self Assessment tax return FAQs cover the registration, deadline and penalty rules that still apply to you.
One change is coming regardless of your MTD status. The points-based late filing penalties designed for MTD are due to extend to all Self Assessment taxpayers from 6 April 2027.
What to do next
If HMRC has signed you up, read the letter properly. It contains a checking step asking you or your agent to confirm that HMRC’s records are correct, and it’s an easy thing to skim past.
Then work through the practical part:
- Confirm the tax year you’re mandated from, using HMRC’s eligibility checker.
- Choose software that can file the year-end return, not just the quarterly updates.
- Get your digital records in order ahead of the 7 November 2026 update.
That second point catches people out. Not every MTD product supports the year-end submission, and a package that handles quarterly updates alone leaves you stranded in January.
There’s a small mercy in the first year. In this first year, late quarterly updates don’t attract points at all, though a late year-end return still does.
Our Making Tax Digital guide covers digital record-keeping, software choices and the wider MTD timetable in more depth.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Final Declaration the same as the old tax return?
In substance, yes. It reports the same income and claims the same reliefs, and the difference lies in the filing route and the pre-filled quarterly figures.
Can I still use HMRC’s free online Self Assessment service?
Not for a tax year in which you’re inside MTD. HMRC hasn’t built a free filing route for MTD returns, so a commercial software product or an agent is needed.
What if I miss the Final Declaration deadline?
A late year-end return earns a penalty point. For taxpayers mandated into MTD, reaching four points triggers a £200 penalty.
Key Takeaways
- The Final Declaration replaces the SA100 for anyone inside MTD for Income Tax, rather than sitting on top of it as an extra filing.
- The deadline is unchanged at 31 January following the tax year, so the first one, covering the 2026 to 2027 tax year, falls due by 31 January 2028.
- HMRC’s current guidance calls this submission your tax return, and ‘final declaration’ now survives mainly in software and adviser language.
- The End of Period Statement has been scrapped, leaving four quarterly updates and a single year-end return.
- Anyone below the current £50,000 threshold carries on with Self Assessment as normal until their own phase begins.
- Payment dates, including payments on account, remain on 31 January and 31 July.
Written by:
Tax Rebate Services Editorial Team
Reviewed by:
Tony Shanks
,
qualified Taxation Technician (ATT)
Last updated:
This article provides general information and is correct as at the date shown. It isn't personalised tax advice — for help with your own circumstances, speak to a qualified adviser or HMRC.
