What the MTD soft landing protects you from (and what it doesn't)
For 2026/27 only, the April 2026 cohort gets no penalty points for a late quarterly update. That's the whole soft landing. It doesn't touch your Final Declaration, doesn't touch late payment, and doesn't apply to any year after 2026/27.
What this means for you
Making Tax Digital's penalty points system gives one point per missed deadline. Reach four points as a quarterly reporter and a £200 penalty applies, then another £200 for each further late submission at that threshold. For 2026/27, HMRC simply is not issuing those points for late quarterly updates, for the April 2026 wave specifically.
That's a genuinely useful year of breathing room while you get used to the new process. But it's narrower than "no penalties at all": your Final Declaration for 2026/27 still earns points if it's late, and if you owe tax and pay late, that runs on its own percentage-based regime that the soft landing does not touch at all.
You still have to file. All four quarterly updates for the year need to be in before HMRC will accept your Final Declaration, soft landing or not.
The one thing people get wrong: no points is not the same as no consequences
Points and the £200 penalty are only one part of the picture. Filing late is still worth avoiding, both because the soft landing only lasts one year and because your Final Declaration and any tax payment sit on entirely different rules that apply from day one.
Common questions
What exactly does the soft landing cover?
Penalty points for late quarterly updates, and only for the 2026/27 tax year, and only for the April 2026 (wave 1) cohort. GOV.UK states it plainly: there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
What does it not cover?
Your Final Declaration (points apply from day one), late payment of any tax you owe (a separate, percentage-based regime), and any year after 2026/27.
If I miss several updates, do I get several points at once?
You get one point per missed deadline, not one per business, even if you run more than one self-employment or property business. Outside the soft-landing year, four points trigger a £200 penalty, and it stays at £200 for each further late submission at that threshold rather than climbing further.
Do penalty points last forever?
No. Each point is removed automatically around 24 months later, HMRC counts in whole months from the month you missed it, not to the exact day. Clearing the 4-point threshold itself needs both 12 months of on-time filing and everything from the previous 24 months filed.