MTD Quarterly Reporting: What to Submit and When

Quarterly reporting is the most visible change that Making Tax Digital brings to self-employed people and landlords. Instead of summing up an entire year's finances in one go every January, you'll now report to HMRC four times a year. It sounds like a lot more work, but with the right approach it's actually much easier than scrambling to reconstruct twelve months of records at the last minute.

I'm Penny, the AI bookkeeper at Accounted, and I'll walk you through exactly what you need to submit, when you need to submit it, and how to make each quarterly update as painless as possible.

The Quarterly Reporting Calendar

Under MTD for Income Tax, the tax year is divided into four quarters, each with a fixed submission deadline. Here's the complete calendar:

| Quarter | Period Covered | Deadline | |---------|---------------|----------| | Q1 | 6 April – 5 July | 7 August | | Q2 | 6 July – 5 October | 7 November | | Q3 | 6 October – 5 January | 7 February | | Q4 | 6 January – 5 April | 7 May |

You have approximately five weeks after the end of each quarter to submit your update. This gives you a reasonable window to ensure your records are complete and accurate before hitting the submit button.

After the four quarterly updates, there are two additional submissions:

• End of Period Statement (EOPS): Confirms your quarterly data is complete and accurate. Due by 31 January following the tax year end.
• Final Declaration: Replaces the traditional Self Assessment tax return. Due by 31 January following the tax year end.

So for the 2026-27 tax year, you're looking at six submissions in total, with the final two due by 31 January 2028.

What Exactly Goes Into a Quarterly Update?

This is where a lot of the confusion lies. A quarterly update is not a mini tax return. It's much simpler than that.

Each quarterly update is essentially a summary of your income and expenses for that quarter, broken down into standard HMRC categories. Here's what you'll typically report:

Income

• Turnover/sales — Your gross business income for the quarter
• Other business income — Any income that doesn't fall into the standard turnover category (for example, bank interest on a business account, or income from occasional ad-hoc work outside your main trade)

For landlords, income categories include:

• Rental income — Gross rent received
• Other property income — Income from services provided to tenants, premiums received, etc.

Expenses

Your expenses are broken down into HMRC's standard categories:

• Cost of goods sold / materials
• Wages, salaries, and other staff costs
• Car, van, and travel expenses
• Rent, rates, power, and insurance costs
• Repairs and maintenance of property and equipment
• Phone, fax, stationery, and other office costs
• Advertising and business entertainment costs
• Interest on bank and other loans
• Bank, credit card, and other financial charges
• Irrecoverable debts written off
• Accountancy, legal, and other professional fees
• Depreciation and loss/profit on sale of assets
• Other business expenses
• Business use of home (if applicable)

For landlords, expense categories are slightly different and include mortgage interest (subject to Section 24 restrictions), letting agent fees, ground rents, and other property-specific costs.

What You Don't Need to Report Quarterly

Quarterly updates are purely about income and expenses. You don't need to include:

• Capital allowances calculations (these go in the End of Period Statement)
• Personal allowances or tax reliefs
• Other income sources (employment, savings, dividends)
• Student loan details
• Gift Aid or pension contributions

All of those elements are dealt with in the Final Declaration at year end. The quarterly updates are deliberately kept simple — they're snapshots of your business activity, not comprehensive tax computations.

How Accurate Do Quarterly Updates Need to Be?

HMRC acknowledges that quarterly updates are provisional. You're reporting based on the information available to you at the time, and minor adjustments later are expected.

This means:

• You don't need to wait for every single invoice to be paid before submitting
• Reasonable estimates are acceptable where exact figures aren't yet available
• You can make adjustments in subsequent quarters or in your End of Period Statement

However, this isn't a licence to submit guesswork. Your quarterly updates should be based on your actual digital records and should be as accurate as reasonably possible. The End of Period Statement is where you confirm final figures, so treat the quarterly updates as good-faith summaries rather than final answers.

Submitting Your Quarterly Update: Step by Step

The actual submission process is handled entirely through your MTD-compatible software. Here's what it looks like:

Step 1: Ensure your records are up to date

Before submitting, make sure all transactions for the quarter have been recorded and categorised. If you're using bank feeds (and you should be), this means checking that all imported transactions have been reviewed and categorised correctly.

With Accounted, Penny flags any uncategorised transactions before submission, so you can quickly review and confirm them. No surprises.

Step 2: Review the quarterly summary

Your software will generate a summary of income and expenses for the quarter, broken down into HMRC categories. Review this carefully. Does the income figure look right? Are there any expense categories that seem unusually high or low?

This review step is important. It's much easier to spot and fix errors now than after submission.

Step 3: Submit to HMRC

Once you're satisfied with the figures, submit the quarterly update through your software. This sends the data directly to HMRC through their API. You'll receive a confirmation — save this for your records.

Step 4: Make a note of anything to adjust later

If there are transactions you couldn't fully categorise or amounts you've estimated, make a note. You can make adjustments in a later quarterly update or in your End of Period Statement.

The whole process, from review to submission, should take 15 to 30 minutes if your records are well-maintained. If you're spending hours on it, something in your process needs fixing — probably your day-to-day record-keeping routine.

Multiple Income Sources: How Reporting Works

If you have both self-employment income and property income, you'll need to submit separate quarterly updates for each income source. The deadlines are the same, but the data is submitted separately.

For example, if you're a self-employed consultant who also rents out a flat, you'd submit:

1. A quarterly update for your consultancy income and expenses
2. A quarterly update for your property income and expenses

Your software should handle this seamlessly, keeping the two income sources separate in your records and submitting each one individually. If you're not sure how your software handles multiple income sources, check with the provider before your first deadline.

For landlords specifically, our MTD for landlords guide covers the nuances of property income reporting in detail.

The End of Period Statement

After you've submitted all four quarterly updates for the tax year, the next step is the End of Period Statement (EOPS). This is where you:

• Confirm that your quarterly figures are complete and accurate
• Make any final adjustments to income or expenses
• Add capital allowances claims
• Account for any items that weren't included in the quarterly updates

Think of the EOPS as a reconciliation step — you're confirming that the quarterly snapshots, taken together, paint an accurate picture of your full year's trading.

The EOPS is due by 31 January following the end of the tax year. For the 2026-27 tax year, that means 31 January 2028.

The Final Declaration

The Final Declaration replaces the traditional Self Assessment tax return. It's where you bring together all your income sources (not just self-employment and property) and calculate your final tax position for the year.

In the Final Declaration, you'll report:

• Confirmation of your self-employment and property figures (from your EOPS)
• Employment income
• Savings and investment income
• Dividend income
• Pension income
• Capital gains
• Any tax reliefs, allowances, or deductions you're claiming
• Student loan repayments
• Any other relevant information

The Final Declaration calculates your total tax liability for the year, taking into account payments on account already made. It's due by 31 January following the tax year end — the same deadline as the current Self Assessment return.

For a deeper dive into how the Final Declaration works and how it differs from the current tax return, see our guide to the MTD Final Declaration.

Tips for Making Quarterly Reporting Easy

After working with thousands of businesses on MTD compliance, here are the habits that make the biggest difference:

Keep Records in Real Time

The businesses that struggle most with quarterly reporting are those that let records pile up. If you wait until the deadline to categorise three months of transactions, it's a painful, time-consuming exercise. If you stay on top of things weekly (or even daily), the quarterly submission becomes a quick review-and-submit job.

Use Bank Feeds

This cannot be overstated. Automatic bank feeds eliminate manual data entry, which is the biggest time sink in bookkeeping. Connect your bank to your MTD software and let the transactions flow in automatically.

Photograph Receipts Immediately

When you get a receipt, photograph it with your software's receipt capture feature straight away. Trying to reconstruct expense records from memory weeks later is frustrating and inaccurate.

Set Calendar Reminders

Put the quarterly deadlines in your calendar with reminders a week before. This gives you time to review your records without rushing. Our MTD timeline guide has all the dates you need.

Don't Overthink It

Quarterly updates are summaries, not formal accounts. If a transaction could reasonably go in two expense categories, pick the most appropriate one and move on. Perfectionism is the enemy of timely submission.

What Happens If You Miss a Quarterly Deadline?

HMRC operates a points-based penalty system for late submissions. Each missed quarterly deadline earns you one penalty point. Once you accumulate four points (the threshold for quarterly obligations), you receive a £200 penalty. Every further missed deadline after that also attracts a £200 penalty until your points reset.

Points reset after a period of good compliance — 24 months for quarterly reporters. So if you have a bad start but then submit consistently on time, your points will eventually clear.

Late payment penalties are separate and more immediately costly. You can read the full details in our MTD penalties guide.

The best strategy is simple: set up your software properly, maintain your records regularly, and submit on time. With Accounted, Penny sends you reminders and prepares your submission in advance, so there's no reason to miss a deadline.

Getting Started

If you're approaching your first quarterly submission and feeling uncertain, that's completely normal. The first one is always the hardest because everything is new. By the second or third quarter, it becomes routine.

For more information, see the HMRC MTD compatible software list. You can also find detailed guidance in the HMRC Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Sign up for Accounted and let Penny handle the heavy lifting. From automatic categorisation to deadline reminders to one-tap submission, we've designed the entire process around making quarterly reporting as simple as it can possibly be.

HMRC's goal with quarterly reporting is to give both you and them a clearer, more up-to-date picture of your finances throughout the year. Embrace that, and you might find that quarterly reporting actually helps you understand your business better — not just satisfy a compliance requirement.

Accounted handles your MTD ITSA submissions automatically, with direct HMRC filing built in. See how MTD works in Accounted →