UK KEY DATES

UK key dates 2027 for founders and consultants

England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2027, Scotland has 9 and Northern Ireland has 10. The other dates a UK founder needs are 31 January for Self Assessment, 6 April for Making Tax Digital at £30,000, and 2 December for the EU AI Act's rules on stand-alone high-risk systems.

Get these in your calendar

Last verified 9 November 2026. Official sources only.

What are the UK bank holidays in 2027?

Date	What	England and Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
Friday 1 January	New Year's Day	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monday 4 January	2nd January (substitute day)	No	Yes	No
Wednesday 17 March	St Patrick's Day	No	No	Yes
Friday 26 March	Good Friday	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monday 29 March	Easter Monday	Yes	No	Yes
Monday 3 May	Early May bank holiday	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monday 31 May	Spring bank holiday	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monday 12 July	Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day)	No	No	Yes
Monday 2 August	Summer bank holiday	No	Yes	No
Monday 30 August	Summer bank holiday	Yes	No	Yes
Tuesday 30 November	St Andrew's Day	No	Yes	No
Monday 27 December	Christmas Day (substitute day)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tuesday 28 December	Boxing Day (substitute day)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total		8	9	10

Source: GOV.UK. A one-off bank holiday can be added by proclamation in any year.

GOV.UK bank holidays

Checked 9 November 2026

Which tax and company dates matter in 2027?

Date	What	Source	Status
31 January 2027	Self Assessment: online return and payment for the 2025 to 2026 tax year Submit your online return and pay the tax you owe by 11:59pm.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
5 April 2027	Tax year 2026 to 2027 ends The final day of the tax year.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
6 April 2027	Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts for qualifying income over £30,000 Applies if your qualifying income from self-employment and property was over £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
31 July 2027	Self Assessment: second payment on account Due if you make payments on account.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
5 October 2027	Tell HMRC if you need to send a return for the first time (for the 2026 to 2027 tax year) Check whether you need to register for Self Assessment.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
31 October 2027	Paper Self Assessment return for the 2026 to 2027 tax year Expected from HMRC's yearly pattern. GOV.UK currently states the 2025 to 2026 dates.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Expected
No earlier than November 2027	Companies House identity verification for people who file documents Companies House says this will start no earlier than November 2027, with at least six months' notice.	GOV.UK Checked 9 November 2026	Planned

Which EU AI Act dates fall in 2027?

For UK founders who work with EU clients. This says what applies and when. It is not legal advice.

Date	What	Source	Status
2 August 2026	Transparency obligations (Article 50) apply Context from the wider AI Act timetable.	European Commission AI Act Service Desk, Article 113 Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed Context
2 August 2027	EU AI Act: national AI regulatory sandboxes due to be operational Member States must have at least one national AI regulatory sandbox operational.	European Commission AI Act Service Desk, Article 57 Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
2 December 2027	EU AI Act: rules for stand-alone high-risk AI systems (Annex III) apply The amended Article 113 displayed by the Service Desk gives this application date for Annex III high-risk systems.	European Commission AI Act Service Desk, Article 113 Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed
2 August 2028	High-risk AI in regulated products (Annex I) The amended Article 113 gives this application date.	European Commission AI Act Service Desk, Article 113 Checked 9 November 2026	Confirmed Context

How is this list kept?

Official sources only. Every row links to its source and carries the date it was last checked. Corrections are logged here with the date.

9 November 2026: list published in preview.