23/02/2026
📊 What MTD means in plain terms
Who it applies to
MTD ITSA will apply from 6 April 2026 for individuals with self-employment and/or property income over £50,000 per year (total gross income before expenses). This includes sole traders and landlords. 
HMRC will phase it down over the next couple of years (e.g., £30k threshold in April 2027). 
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📅 Quarterly Reporting – What & When
Under MTD, instead of just one annual tax return, clients will need to send 4 digital summaries (“quarterly updates”) each tax year. These are not tax bills, they’re updates of income and expenses so HMRC can see what’s happening throughout the year. 
Quarterly update periods & deadlines (see image).
What quarterly updates include:
Each quarterly update is summary totals, not individual receipts — totals for:
• Income
• Expenses (by category)
You don’t have to include tax adjustments or tax calculations at this stage. 
Clients or their accountants can prepare and submit them via MTD-compatible software. HMRC won’t accept manual spreadsheet submissions — the software sends the summaries. 
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🧾 End of Year Reporting
At the end of the tax year, there are still a couple of steps:
✅ End of Period Statement (EOPS)
After the year ends, the accountant sends a statement to finalise totals and claim any reliefs before the final return. 
✅ Final Declaration (Annual Return)
This replaces the old Self-Assessment return — submitted through the software by 31 January following the end of the tax year. 
So for the 2026-27 tax year, the final declaration would be due 31 January 2028. 
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💰 Payments Still the Same
Tax payment dates don’t change under MTD.
• 31 January – payment balancing tax for the previous year and first payment on account for the next year (if applicable).
• 31 July – second payment on account. 
Quarterly updates are informational — they don’t trigger quarterly tax payments (at least under the current rules). HMRC will continue to collect and apply payments the same way as now. 
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📝 What Clients Will Need to Give Their Accountant Each Quarter
To make this work smoothly, clients should be ready to provide, each quarter:
1. Up-to-date digital records of:
• All income received
• All business and property expenses
• Categorisation of those items (software typically helps with this)
2. Bank statements or bookkeeping data, ideally already in the MTD-compatible software.
3. Any property income/expense details if the client also rents out property.
Basically, instead of dumping a year’s shoebox on you once a year, they’ll need regular updates of the core financial data so you can send the quarterly summaries on their behalf.
