Livestock paperwork runs on several clocks at once, and they do not all start on the same day. This is the reference table I would pin up in the farm office, with the source for every row.
For cattle in England, Wales and Scotland: register a birth by the day the calf is 27 days old, report movements within 3 days, and report a death within 7 days. Fallen cattle over 48 months need a collector booked within 24 hours and sampling within 72 hours of death. Sheep, goat and pig rules have their own windows, and Northern Ireland differs. On the money side, Self Assessment is due 31 January, and MTD quarterly updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Our month-by-month planner turns these into a year.
These are the three clocks every cattle keeper runs. Treat the last day as the day it must already have arrived, not the day you post it.
| Deadline | Applies to | Window | Where to report or find out more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit ear tags to a calf | Cattle, England and Wales | Beef calf: both tags before 21 days. Dairy calf: first tag before 36 hours, second before 21 days. Scotland: 20 days for beef; dairy first tag 36 hours, second 20 days. | Cattle ear tags and EID |
| Register a birth and get a passport | Cattle, all four nations | By the day the calf is 27 days old, bison 7 days. Northern Ireland: within 27 days of birth or before any movement, whichever is earlier. | Cattle passport 27-day rule |
| Update the holding register | Cattle | Movements: 36 hours in England and Wales, 48 hours in Scotland. Births: 7 days dairy, 30 days other. Deaths: 7 days. | Holding register guide |
| Report a movement | Cattle, England, Wales, Scotland | Within 3 days, to BCMS or ScotEID. Northern Ireland: DAERA expects the seller to notify on the day animals move and the buyer on arrival. | Cattle movement 3-day rule, systems by nation |
| Report a death | Cattle, all four nations | Within 7 days, and return the passport. GOV.UK counts day 1 as the day after death. | Reporting a cattle death |
| Deadline | Applies to | Window | Where to report or find out more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test fallen cattle for BSE | Cattle dying on farm, over 48 months (24 months if born outside the UK and listed countries) | Book a collector within 24 hours of death. Carcass at an approved sampling site within 72 hours of death. | BSE testing guide |
| Routine TB herd test | England | High Risk Area 6 months, Edge Area 6 or 12 months, Low Risk Area 4 years. Hotspots and enhanced surveillance areas can be 6, 12 or 24 months. | TB testing and movement rules |
| Standstill after buying in | England and Wales | 6 days before moving cattle, sheep, goats or pigs off. Pigs moved on need 20 days before pigs leave. Scotland is longer: 13 days for sheep and goats. | Sheep movement reporting |
| Keep the cattle holding register | England and Wales | 10 years from 31 December of the year of the last entry. Northern Ireland: 10 years from the end of that calendar year. | Holding register retention |
Standstill does not apply to animals going direct to slaughter. Wales and Scotland set their own TB testing intervals by parish, so use the APHA search tool for your holding.
| Deadline | Applies to | Window | Where to report or find out more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tag lambs and kids | Sheep and goats, UK | By 9 months, or 6 months if reared indoors, or when leaving the holding of birth, whichever comes first. | Sheep EID tags and flock register |
| Record a movement | Sheep and goats | 36 hours in England, 48 hours in Scotland. | Holding register for sheep |
| Report an on-movement | Sheep and goats | England: receiving keeper reports to LIS within 3 days of arrival. Scotland: receiving keeper within 3 days. Wales: report on EIDCymru, check its current guidance. | Sheep movement reporting UK |
| Annual inventory | Sheep and goats | England: count on 1 December, return by 31 December. Wales: count 1 December, submit 1 to 31 December. Scotland: open 1 December to 30 January. | Flock register and inventory |
Receiving keepers in England must keep movement documents for 3 years unless both sides reported online. The sheep holding register is kept for 3 years after the last animal dies or leaves.
Pigs move on a tighter clock. In England the sending keeper must confirm the off-movement on eAML2 within 24 hours of the pigs leaving, after setting the move up beforehand. The holding register is updated within 36 hours. Once a year, on a date you choose, you record the number of pigs on the holding, and you keep those records for 3 years after you stop keeping pigs.
The standstill is 6 days for other species and 20 days for pigs moved on. Pigs going direct to slaughter are exempt. Our holding register guide covers what each register must hold.
| Deadline | Applies to | Window | Where to report or find out more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register for Self Assessment | Anyone new to it | By 5 October after the tax year ends. For 2025 to 2026 that was 5 October 2026. | Self Assessment deadlines |
| File and pay | Tax year 2025 to 2026 | Online return and tax by 31 January 2027. Paper return by 31 October 2026. Second payment on account 31 July. | Farm bookkeeping basics |
| Join MTD for Income Tax | Qualifying income over the threshold | Over £50,000 from 6 April 2026, over £30,000 from 6 April 2027, over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Gross income, not profit. | MTD thresholds for farmers |
| Averaging exemption | Farmers who claimed averaging | No MTD in 2026 to 2027 if the 2024 to 2025 return claimed averaging on the SA103 page. | Profit averaging explained |
| MTD quarterly updates | MTD users | Periods ending 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. No late penalty points in 2026 to 2027. | HMRC quarterly updates |
| Deadline | Applies to | Window | Where to report or find out more |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT return and payment | VAT-registered farms | Usually every 3 months, due one calendar month and 7 days after the period ends. Register if taxable turnover passes £90,000. | VAT registration threshold |
| Payroll report (RTI) | Employers | Full Payment Submission on or before each payday. Pay HMRC by the 22nd of the next tax month, P60s by 31 May, benefits by 6 July. | HMRC payroll reporting |
| Keep wage records | Employers | Minimum wage records for at least 6 years. PAYE records for 3 years from the end of the tax year. | Farm wage records |
| Keep medicine records | Food-producing animals | At least 5 years from administration, even if the animal has gone. | Medicine record 5-year rule |
Northern Ireland is where people assume the GB 3-day window applies: DAERA's guidance has the seller notify on the day animals move, and I found no separate 3-day window there, so follow DAERA. Scotland keeps its register to 48 hours and its sheep inventory runs to 30 January. England and Wales share most cattle rules, and Wales plans to move cattle reporting from BCMS to EIDCymru in winter 2026, with dates still to be confirmed at its March 2026 update.
In England, the Livestock Information Service will replace the cattle tracing system, with the first cattle service due in 2027 and the old system running until rollout is finished. Defra expects electronic ID for newborn calves in 2027, and Wales around 2028. Defra has also consulted on simpler deadlines, so recheck GOV.UK when the new service goes live. Our BCMS to LIS guide and cattle EID blog follow it.
One rule of thumb: GOV.UK counts day 1 as the day after death for the 7-day rule, and the passport rule runs to the day the calf is 27 days old, so I would work to the day before.
Put the clocks in one place. Work each date out from the event, check it against the table, and set a reminder two days earlier. The free passport deadline calculator and movement deadline calculator do the sums for cattle, and the paperwork glossary explains the acronyms.
FarmHQ, in pre-launch beta, is built to work out these dates from the farm's own records and push reminders even if the app has not been opened for weeks, as described in the calendar that runs itself. Ask Farmer Joe drafts, you confirm. This is general information, so check GOV.UK, your vet or your accountant for your own case. If you are choosing software to keep up with quarterly updates, run it through our checklist for farm accounting software first, because only recognised software can file through the digital link.
You must register the birth by the day the calf is 27 days old in England, Wales and Scotland, and within 27 days of birth or before any movement in Northern Ireland. Bison are 7 days. Miss it and no passport is issued, so the animal cannot enter the food chain.
In England and Wales report to BCMS within 3 days of the move, and in Scotland report to ScotEID within 3 days. Northern Ireland works differently: DAERA expects the seller to notify on the day the animals move and the buyer on the day they arrive.
Report the death, return the passport and update your holding register within 7 days. This applies in all four nations. If the animal was over 48 months and not slaughtered for food, a BSE test also applies, with a collector booked within 24 hours.
In England count your animals on 1 December and return the inventory by 31 December. Wales asks for the 1 December count to be submitted between 1 and 31 December. Scotland opens the inventory on 1 December and closes it on 30 January.
Standard update periods end on 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April, with deadlines on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. HMRC will not apply late penalty points for quarterly updates in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.