The 2026/27 “soft landing”, explained

HMRC has confirmed there are no penalty points for a late quarterly update specifically during the 2026/27 tax year. People shorten this to "the soft landing." It's real, and it's worth understanding precisely, because it covers less than the name suggests.

What it does cover

• A late quarterly update (the 7 August, 7 November, 7 February or 7 May submissions) during the 2026/27 tax year won't earn you a penalty point
• This applies to anyone required to use MTD for Income Tax during that specific tax year, not just first-timers

What it doesn't cover

The Final Declaration. The soft landing is specifically for quarterly updates. A late Final Declaration isn't protected by it, and carries a penalty point in the ordinary way.

Late payment. Late payment penalties run on a completely separate system, based on how many days overdue a payment is. The soft landing doesn't touch this at all. You can file every update on time and still get hit with a late payment penalty if the tax itself arrives after 31 January.

The obligation to file, full stop. You still need to submit all four quarterly updates. No penalty point for lateness isn't the same as no requirement to file. You can't skip a quarter and jump straight to the Final Declaration; your software won't let you, because HMRC's systems expect the quarterly totals first.

Future years. This applies to the 2026/27 tax year specifically. Whether a similar arrangement applies to the first year for the £30,000 cohort joining in 2027/28 isn't something we've found GOV.UK confirmation of either way. See our £30,000 threshold page. Don't assume it repeats until HMRC says so.

What to actually do with this year

Further reading, direct from the source