If you're self-employed, a sole-trader or a landlord, your first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD IT) quarterly filing deadline arrives soon - 7 August.
If you're filing this yourself, without an accountant, here's exactly what you need to do to get it right.
Quick recap: who does this apply to?
MTD IT became mandatory from April 2026 for:
- Self-employed sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000 (based on your 2024–25 tax return)
- Landlords with rental income over the same threshold
- Anyone whose combined self-employment and property income adds up past £50,000
If that's you, read on.
1. Know your deadline: 7 August
Your first quarter covers 6 April to 5 July, and the update for it is due by 7 August. That's under a month away, so it's worth treating this as a real deadline now rather than something to think about later.
2. If you haven't already, get compatible software
To make a quarterly submission, you'll need compatible software that can send updates to HMRC digitally. If you currently use spreadsheets, that's fine – you can continue using them with the right software.
If you haven't sorted this yet, do it now, as some products take a little time to set up and connect to HMRC.
This is where TaxCalc's MTD Quarterly Filer comes in. It allows you to continue working in spreadsheets while submitting the information HMRC requires digitally. If you're new to Making Tax Digital, it's designed to make that first submission straightforward rather than something to dread.
3. Make sure you're signed up with HMRC
Before you can submit anything, you need to have signed up for MTD IT yourself and linked it to your Government Gateway account. If you haven't done this yet, do it now. It can take a few days to process, and you'll need it in place before your software can submit on your behalf.
4. Get your records for this quarter in order
If you haven't been logging income and expenses digitally since 6 April, don't worry about the gap, just focus on closing it. A few things that may be worth doing now:
- Gather everything for 6 April to 5 July: invoices, receipts, bank statements, and any records of income received in that period.
- Separate business from personal. If you've been using one bank account for everything, go through and pull out what's genuinely business income and expenditure. This is one of the most common sources of errors.
- Don't forget every income source. If you're both self-employed and a landlord, you'll need to submit a separate quarterly update for each. They don't get combined into one.
- Enter it into your software properly, not just as a lump sum. Categorising as you go (even loosely) will save you time at year-end, when everything gets reconciled properly.
Doing this over the next week or two, rather than the night before the deadline, will make the actual submission quick and low-stress.
5. What actually goes in the update
Each quarterly submission is a cumulative summary of income and expenses for the tax year - it's not a full tax return, and there's no tax calculation involved at this stage. You're not declaring what you owe; you're reporting what came in and went out. Think of it as a running total, not a final verdict. The year-end process is where allowances, adjustments, and your final bill get worked out.
6. What to expect after you submit
Once you hit submit, here's what actually happens:
- You'll get a confirmation receipt. Your software should show and store confirmation that HMRC has received your update, usually with a submission reference. Keep this as your proof it went in on time.
- HMRC won't usually send you anything separately. Unlike a Self Assessment confirmation, there's typically no letter or email for each quarterly update; the receipt from your software is your main record.
- No tax liability is due when you submit a quarterly update. The submission is for reporting purposes only; you don't make a payment each quarter.
- You'll see an estimate of your tax liability. HMRC uses the information you've submitted to provide an indication of what your tax bill could look like at year-end, helping you plan ahead.
- You can check your HMRC online account. Logging into your Government Gateway account should show your submitted updates, so you can double-check everything's gone through if you want extra reassurance.
- Mistakes can usually be corrected. If you spot an error afterwards, most software — including TaxCalc — lets you amend and resubmit your last submission. However, you can simply correct the information in your next quarterly submission.
The short version
- Know your deadline: 7 August, for the quarter 6 April–5 July.
- Get MTD-compatible software set up, if you haven't already.
- Confirm you're signed up for MTD IT with HMRC.
- Pull together and enter your records for this quarter, separating business from personal and submitting a separate update per income source.
- Submit, save your confirmation receipt, and check your HMRC online account if you want peace of mind.
What to do now
Whether you're self-employed, a landlord, or both, the principle is the same: get your records in order now, and the actual filing takes a fraction of the time it feels like it will.
Need a solution to help you file for Quarter 1? Find out more about TaxCalc MTD Quarterly Filer or purchase it here.