What is a quarterly update and what do I actually send?

Checked against GOV.UK on 14 August 2026

A quarterly update is the smallest part of Making Tax Digital, and the part people most overestimate. Your software adds up the digital records you have already created and sends the totals.

What is in an update

• Totals for each income and expense category you have used, for each self-employment and property business
• The same categories Self Assessment already uses
• One update per business — two sole trader businesses means two updates

HMRC does not receive individual digital records such as a receipt or an invoice. You do not make any accounting or tax adjustments before sending a quarterly update.

Updates are cumulative

Each update covers from the start of the tax year to the end of that update period — not just the previous three months. That is a deliberate design: it means correcting an earlier mistake does not require resending old updates, because the next update carries the corrected running total.

A nil quarter still needs an update

If you received no income and incurred no expenses during the last update period, you must still send the quarterly update to tell HMRC.

After you send one

You get an estimate of your tax bill for self-employment and property income, in your software or your HMRC online services account. HMRC folds in what it already holds — for example a student or postgraduate loan plan type. The estimate is less accurate if you have income sources HMRC has not been told about, or if your accounting period does not match the tax year.

You can send more often

Most compatible software will let you send an update on any day. An extra update still has to cover the full period from the start of the tax year — useful if you want to see what a large receipt does to your estimated bill.

Your four update deadlines →

Sources

• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: send quarterly updates (HMRC guidance)
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: create digital records (HMRC guidance)

General information about UK tax rules, not tax advice. Your own circumstances and HMRC's official guidance govern your position. If you are unsure, speak to an accountant or contact HMRC. Tax rules change — if this page is more than a few months old, check the GOV.UK pages linked above. Found an error? Email hello@getaxionlabs.com and we will correct it.

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