SALF1010 - Self Assessment: the legal framework: Making Tax Digital: Period for which digital obligations apply: Digital start date
The digital start date is dependent on a person being a ‘relevant person’ carrying on a ‘relevant activity’, when the relevant activity started and when the notice to file a tax return was given.
Subject to exemptions, if a person was a relevant person on 6 April 2026 and, immediately before that date, was carrying on the relevant activity and had been required to deliver a return for the tax year 2024-25 containing financial information about that activity, the digital start date for that relevant activity is 6 April 2026.
In any other circumstance, the digital start date is 6 April in the tax year after the tax year in which the return obligation first applies (following the giving of a notice to file) i.e. the year in which the filing date falls (rather than the year the return relates to).
For example, where a notice to file for 2024-25 was given on 6 April 2025 the digital start date is 6 April 2026.
Further examples are shown in the table below.
| Tax year | NTF issue date (for 2025-2026 tax year) | Filing date | Digital start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | 25 April 2026 | 31 January 2027 | 6 April 2027 |
| 2025-2026 | 15 February 2027 | 15 May 2027 | 6 April 2028 |
| 2025-2026 | 3 July 2028 | 3 October 2028 | 6 April 2029 |
| 2025-2026 | 7 January 2029 | 7 April 2029 | 6 April 2030 |
If a person (under either scenario above) makes a calendar quarters election in a tax year in respect of a relevant activity, the digital start date becomes 1 April in the year prior to the tax year for which they made the election.