MTD for Income Tax — quarterly updates explained

An MTD quarterly update sends totals from your digital records to HMRC through compatible software. It is a cumulative year-to-date update, not a tax payment and not a replacement for the year-end tax return.

What the update includes

HMRC uses totals for the income and expense categories recorded for each relevant business source. Review your records and categorisation before sending them. The update periods can follow the tax year or calendar quarters, but each update accumulates from the start of the year.

See HMRC’s quarterly-update guidance and the deadline table.

Correcting records

Correct an error in the underlying digital records. The next cumulative update includes the corrected year-to-date figures, so you do not ordinarily have to resend each earlier update. After the fourth update, you may need to resend that update before making tax adjustments.

Deadlines and the first-year exception

The deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026 to 2027. The updates remain required before the tax return can be submitted, and late tax returns or payments have separate consequences.

Year end

Quarterly updates do not finish your annual obligations. Check the figures, make required tax adjustments and complete the tax return using a suitable supported workflow. Consult a tax adviser about uncertain categories or more complex circumstances.

TenancyVault’s product status

Solo and above include bookkeeping and bank statement import. HMRC connection and direct filing workflows are subject to production approval and release; public direct filing is not yet available. Current development scope is customer-direct individual UK-property workflows, not agent filing, foreign property or self-employment.

Review the MTD product scope before choosing software for a live deadline. Free is the one-property compliance plan, not a free HMRC filing plan.