A quarterly update is the summary of business income and expenses that a sole trader or landlord sends to HMRC every three months under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It is sent from software and is not a tax return.
The periods and deadlines
Each update runs from the start of the tax year to the end of its period, not just the latest three months, so every period in the table starts on 6 April.
| Update period | Due by |
|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July | 7 August |
| 6 April to 5 October | 7 November |
| 6 April to 5 January | 7 February |
| 6 April to 5 April | 7 May |
You can choose calendar update periods instead, so that each period starts on 1 April and ends on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December or 31 March. The deadlines stay the same.
What goes in it
A quarterly update gives totals of income and expenses by category, taken from your digital records. Each update is cumulative: it covers the tax year to date, so a correction to an earlier quarter is picked up automatically in the next one. You send a separate update for each self-employment and for your property income.
No tax is paid with an update and no accounting adjustments are needed. Those are dealt with at the year end, before the final declaration.
Read more: Sending quarterly updates.
