Switch to calendar quarterly update periods for MTD for Income Tax
This article explains how to set up calendar quarterly update periods for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax using FreeAgent.
HMRC requires anyone registered for MTD for Income Tax to keep digital records and send quarterly updates about their business and/or property income and expenses to HMRC. You can enable quarterly updates to be sent to HMRC automatically.
The quarterly updates can be submitted after the end of the quarter and are currently due one month after the end of the quarter for 'standard quarters' submissions, and one month and seven days for calendar year submissions. Read more about first year of MTD for Income Tax submissions.
The table in FreeAgent provides a useful timeline of each quarterly update period and when it is due to be submitted. You’ll find this on the Self Employment page if you have a sole trader account type and on the UK property page if you have an unincorporated landlord account type.
What’s the difference between standard quarterly update periods and calendar quarterly update periods?
By default, your quarterly updates will be set automatically to so-called ‘standard quarters’ by HMRC. The standard quarterly periods are based on the tax year and the quarters cover the following periods:
- Q1: 6th April to 5th July
- Q2: 6th July to 5th October
- Q3: 6th October to 5th January
- Q4: 6th January to 5th April
Alternatively, you can choose to use calendar update periods which end on the last day of the month. This may make your record keeping simpler if your accounting period ends on 31st March. If you wish to use calendar quarters instead of standard quarters, you must select calendar update periods before you make your first quarterly update for the tax year in question. The calendar update periods cover the following periods:
- Q1: 1st April (or 6th April if you’re switching to calendar quarters) to 30th June
- Q2: 1st July to 30th September
- Q3: 1st October to 31st December
- Q4: 1st January to 31st March (or 5th April if you’re switching away from calendar quarters)
Please note:
- If you wish to switch to calendar quarterly update periods, you must do so before the first update is made for the tax year in question.
- The option to switch to calendar quarterly update periods will only be available once the tax year has started. If you don't see the 'Edit tax year details' button, it may be because the tax year in question has not started yet. For example, if you sign up to MTD for Income Tax for the 2026/27 tax year, you won't see the 'Edit tax year details' button in FreeAgent until 6th April 26.
- If you have more than one income stream, for instance if you're self-employed and also a landlord, you'll need a sole trader and an unincorporated landlord account in FreeAgent. You can find out what counts as multiple income streams, as well as tips for managing more than one income stream, in our how to efficiently manage multiple income streams guide.
- If you use FreeAgent with your accountant, they may submit your quarterly updates on your behalf and restrict your ability to access and submit your quarterly updates. Please speak to your accountant if you have any questions or want to be able to access these. FreeAgent is unable to change these permissions for you.
- If you have a FreeAgent Practice Dashboard, you’ll need to switch to your client’s account to follow the steps below once you’ve set up your practice and clients for MTD for Income Tax.
Switching to calendar quarters
Navigate to the ‘Taxes’ tab at the top of the screen and select ‘Income Tax’ from the drop-down menu.
Select the relevant tax year from the list.
Select ‘Edit tax year details’ at the top-right of the screen.
Select whether this is the first tax year you’re filing for MTD for Income Tax.
Then, select ‘Calendar year quarters’ for the question ‘Which dates would you like to use for your quarterly submissions in this tax year?’
Select ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of the screen to complete the process. Your quarterly periods will then update to align with calendar quarters.
For 2024/25 and 2025/26 tax years
If your first year filing under MTD for Income Tax is during the 2024/25 or 2025/26 testing phases, your first quarterly period must start on 6th April. Any income and expenditure dated between 1st April and 5th April will be included as an accounting adjustment in the end-of-year figures. You'll need to file the end-of-year update after the quarterly submissions to include these accounting adjustments.
After that, the remaining quarterly periods will follow calendar start and end dates for the tax year as set out above.