We are sharing this update from ACCA, our professional body, for the interest of clients and contacts. The content is (c) ACCA
How to sign up and what to do next
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is here. This means you and your mandated clients should now be using MTD compatible software to create and store digital records in time for the first quarterly update deadline of 7 August 2026. This includes using spreadsheets with bridging software.
HMRC has several resources to help you in the run up to the first deadline such as:
- MTD agent step-by-step guide and MTD agent toolkit
- registering for specialist MTD support – these sessions give you direct access to HMRC specialists for tailored MTD readiness agent support
- signing up for a webinar which covers what actions to take now, how to sign up clients, and a question and answer session where you can also watch a recorded webinar anytime
- MTD for Income Tax YouTube videos
Sign up your clients
If you have not already, be sure to sign up your client for MTD for Income Tax if their total gross income from self-employment and property exceeded £50,000 on their 2024 to 2025 tax return.
For more help on who needs to use MTD, use this interactive tool to check if your client needs to sign up and by what date.
You can also use the software finder tool to access HMRC’s list of all compatible software. This has filter options to check if your software is compatible or to find an alternative provider to meet your or your client’s needs.
Three actions you should take after signing up
Before you send your client’s first quarterly updates, there are three actions you need to take.
- Authorise and connect your software to HMRC
- Check you have selected the right accounting period in your software remember it automatically defaults to 6 April to 5 April, and you cannot change it after you send your first quarterly update
- Use the right software to start creating digital records of your client’s income and expenses from self-employment and property.
Remember if you use a different accounting period other than 6 April to 5 April, you will still need to submit your quarterly MTD updates by the same deadlines:
- quarter 1 — quarterly update due by 7 August 2026
- quarter 2 — quarterly update due by 7 November 2026
- quarter 3 — quarterly update due by 7 February 2027
- quarter 4 — quarterly update due by 7 May 2027.
Read more information on when to send quarterly updates and about what you need to do after you have signed up.
Further resources