What is an MTD quarterly update?
A quarterly update is a digital summary of your business income and expenses, submitted to HMRC through MTD-compatible software four times a year. It is a reporting obligation, not a tax payment. HMRC uses the running totals to show you an estimated tax position across the year, but nothing is due until after your final declaration.
Each update is cumulative and relatively light on detail — you report totals by HMRC category rather than transaction-by-transaction — but it must be filed from digital records, on time, and through recognised software.
MTD quarterly update deadlines
Quarterly updates follow fixed HMRC deadlines. For the standard quarters used by the April 2026 cohort, the schedule is:
- 6 April – 5 July → due 7 August
- 6 July – 5 October → due 7 November
- 6 October – 5 January → due 7 February
- 6 January – 5 April → due 7 May
You can elect to use calendar-month quarters instead, but the standard quarters above are the default. See our MTD deadlines guides for the full timetable.
What each quarterly update contains
A quarterly update reports your total business or property income and your total allowable expenses for the period, broken down into HMRC's standard categories. You do not claim reliefs, allowances or adjustments at this stage — those are handled once a year in your final declaration, so the quarterly figures can be provisional.
What we do for each quarterly update
We review your digital records for the quarter, reconcile income and expenses, check the categorisation against HMRC guidance, prepare the quarterly update and confirm submission through your MTD software. You receive a plain-English summary and a filing confirmation after every submission, so you always know your position.
Quarterly updates vs your final declaration
The four quarterly updates are running summaries. After the tax year ends you also make a final declaration — the equivalent of today's Self Assessment return — where reliefs, allowances and any other income are brought in and your actual tax is calculated. The final declaration is due by 31 January following the tax year. We can prepare this for you as well, or hand a clean pack to your accountant.
Book quarterly update support
Call 0114 327 1480 or email shjenquiry@msc-g.com to set up quarterly update support. Not sure whether MTD applies to you yet?