Submit your tax return
How to complete, submit and make changes to your tax return using your Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software.
Once you have made all the adjustments to your self-employment and property income and expenses, you will need to use your software to:
- complete your tax return
- submit your tax return
You must submit your tax return by 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year, but you can submit it earlier.
For example, you can submit your 2025 to 2026 tax return at any time from 6 April 2026 to 31 January 2027.
You will still need to submit a Self Assessment tax return as you normally do for the tax year before you start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
For tax years after this, you will need to use your Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software to complete and submit your tax return.
If you miss the deadline for submitting your tax return, you will receive a late submission penalty point. You can find out more about penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
You need to make sure all your other taxable sources of income or gains for the year are included in your Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software.
If HMRC has information about your other income sources, we will add them to your tax return for you.
Information HMRC will add
Information HMRC will add includes:
- employment (PAYE) income
- student loan plan type and postgraduate loan (including repayments taken from PAYE, if any)
- income from state, private and occupational pensions
- other taxable state benefits
- Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) — subcontractor deductions
- Capital Gains Tax residential property disposals
- Marriage Allowance claims
After HMRC have added this information, you can find it in either your:
- software (when you ask for a calculation)
- HMRC online services account
You must check this information before you submit your tax return.
If we do not have all the information about your other income sources, you will need to add them yourself.
Information you will add
Information you will need to add includes:
- savings interest
- your share of profit from a partnership as an individual partner
- dividends (including those from your own company)
- payrolled benefits in kind that are not subject to Class 1A National Insurance contributions
- any other income or gains that have not been automatically added
You must add this information before you submit your tax return.
Before you submit your tax return, you must add all income sources and gains and check all information is correct and complete.
You will need to use your software to make any corrections before you submit. Once you have made your corrections, this will overwrite the previous information.
You must then submit your tax return using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software.
If you think you are due a tax refund, you cannot claim the refund in your tax return using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Find out how to claim a tax refund in the Help and support section.
How to submit your tax return
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Go into your software and confirm you’re ready to submit.
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View and check the tax calculation is correct.
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Submit your tax return by declaring that your information is correct and complete to the best of your knowledge.
You’ll then see a message in your software to tell you your tax return has been submitted.
You can only submit your client’s tax return using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if you are their main agent.
If your client, or a supporting agent, has sent quarterly updates or added other income sources and gains, you can view these in your software but you will not be able to view their digital records.
If you find an error or notice that information is missing, you must correct the information.
Before you submit your client’s tax return, you must add all their income sources and gains.
If you think your client is due a tax refund, you cannot claim the refund in their tax return using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Find out how to claim a tax refund in the Help and support section.
How to submit your client’s tax return
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Go into your software and confirm you’re ready to submit.
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View and check the tax calculation is correct.
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Share a copy of the information being submitted with your client.
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Ask the client to check and provide written confirmation the information is correct and complete.
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Submit your client’s tax return by declaring that the information and calculation is correct and complete to the best of your knowledge.
You’ll then see a message in your software to tell you your client’s tax return has been submitted.
If there is an issue in your software and you are unable to resolve the problem yourself, you must contact your software provider for support first.
If you have spoken to your software provider and:
- they have not been able to resolve your issue
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you still cannot:
- confirm your tax calculation is correct
- submit your tax return
In these cases, you must tell HMRC as soon as possible.
The information you give to HMRC will generate your Self Assessment tax bill for that tax year.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will not change the way you pay tax or the dates that payments are due.
If you do not pay your Self Assessment tax bill on time, you will receive a late payment penalty.
If you need to make a change to a tax return after you have submitted it, you should use your compatible software. You can make a change to a tax return within 12 months of the submission deadline.
When you make changes in your software, your HMRC online services account or agent services account will show an updated tax calculation.
If you need to change information related to your digital records before you submit your tax return, you should correct your digital records instead of making a change to your tax return. You can find out what to do in the ‘Correcting your digital records’ section of Create digital records.
If you submitted a Self Assessment tax return in a previous tax year and you were not using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, use the guidance to make a change to your return. Changes to your tax return may affect when you need to start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
After you made a change to your tax return
If you no longer need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax after making a change to your Self Assessment tax return, you can either:
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opt out — read the ‘If you are eligible to opt out’ section of If your circumstances change
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continue using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax voluntarily — read ‘Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax voluntarily’ section of If your circumstances change