MTD Second Quarterly Update: 7 November 2026

The second Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly update is due by 7 November 2026. For most sole traders already in MTD, it is the next live compliance deadline. For people signed up late by HMRC, it may also be the point at which months of digital records need to be brought together quickly.

There is one rule many early guides missed: the second update is cumulative. It covers the start of the tax year to the end of the second update period, not only the most recent three months.

Here is what the deadline covers, what to check and how to submit without turning the last week into a bookkeeping emergency.

What the second quarterly update covers

HMRC's current quarterly update guidance says each update automatically covers from the start of the tax year to the end of the relevant update period.

Update basis	Cumulative period shown in Q2	Deadline
Standard periods	6 April to 5 October 2026	7 November 2026
Calendar periods	1 April to 30 September 2026	7 November 2026

This cumulative approach matters. Your Q2 submission is not a stand-alone report for July, August and September. Your software adds together the digital records from the beginning of the tax year.

If you corrected an April transaction after sending Q1, the corrected figure can flow into the new cumulative totals. You do not normally need to resend the earlier update solely because a later update includes the corrected record.

What HMRC receives

Your software sends totals for the income and expense categories used in your digital records. A quarterly update is a summary, not a tax return, and HMRC says you do not need to make accounting or tax adjustments before sending it.

Depending on your business and software, the categories may include:

• turnover or other business income
• cost of goods or materials
• wages and subcontractor costs
• vehicle and travel expenses
• premises and working-from-home costs
• phone, internet and office costs
• professional fees, insurance and finance costs
• other allowable business expenses

The quality of the update depends on the underlying records. A bank feed can import transactions, but it cannot always tell whether a payment is personal, allowable, capital or duplicated. Review the categories before pressing submit.

Your Q2 checklist

1. Confirm which update periods you use

Check inside your software rather than guessing. Sole traders whose accounting period ends on 5 April usually use standard periods. A 31 March year end may be better aligned with calendar periods.

If you sent Q1, the choice is already set for this tax year. HMRC says you cannot change update-period basis after a quarterly update has been sent.

2. Reconcile income from the start of the year

Compare the cumulative sales or income total in your software with your invoices, payment processor reports and bank statements from April onwards.

Look especially for:

• cash income not paid into the business account
• invoices paid into a personal account
• payment-processor fees recorded incorrectly
• transfers between your own accounts counted as sales
• duplicated imported transactions
• refunds or credit notes missing from the records

This is a cumulative update, so an April error still affects the November submission unless you correct it.

3. Review expenses and personal spending

Work through uncategorised transactions and remove personal costs. Keep the receipt or invoice that supports each business expense, even though you do not send the document itself with the quarterly update.

If an expense has both business and personal use, record only the allowable business share. Our allowable expenses guide explains the main categories, while the record-keeping guide covers the documents you should retain.

4. Check every business or property source

MTD updates are required for each relevant self-employment and property business. A single combined figure may not be enough if HMRC and your software show multiple income sources.

If you are both a sole trader and a landlord, review the separate workflow in our sole trader and landlord MTD guide. Confirm that your chosen software supports both types of income before the deadline.

5. Review the cumulative summary

Before submitting, compare Q2's year-to-date totals with Q1 and with what you know about the business.

Ask:

• Does revenue growth or decline make sense?
• Are six months of costs present, rather than only the latest quarter?
• Did any category jump because of a duplicate or miscoding?
• Does the software show an income source with no records?
• Are there warnings about authorisation or an expired HMRC connection?

You do not need perfect year-end adjustments at this stage, but obvious record errors should be corrected as soon as possible.

6. Submit and save confirmation

The exact wording differs by provider, but the normal path is:

1. Open the MTD for Income Tax or quarterly updates area.
2. Select the update ending 5 October or 30 September.
3. Review cumulative category totals.
4. Confirm the declaration shown by the software.
5. Send the update to HMRC.
6. Save the receipt, timestamp or submission reference.

Do not wait until late on 7 November. A lapsed bank connection, missing authorisation or provider outage is easier to solve with several days in hand.

If you missed the first update

HMRC began automatically signing up some affected taxpayers from September 2026. If that includes you, your account may show the 7 August update as overdue.

You need to create digital records from the start of the tax year. Follow the overdue items displayed in your HMRC account and software, and send the catch-up update as soon as possible. Do not assume that waiting for 7 November makes an earlier overdue item disappear.

The good news is that HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during 2026 to 2027. The obligation still exists, and you will need the required updates completed before submitting the tax return. See our guide on what to do if HMRC signed you up for the full catch-up sequence.

If your software is not ready

You cannot send an MTD Income Tax quarterly update through the old Self Assessment return screen. You need compatible software connected to HMRC.

If you have not chosen a product, focus on the features you need now:

• HMRC-recognised MTD for Income Tax submissions
• bank feeds or reliable statement import
• support for all your income sources
• clear uncategorised-transaction and reconciliation tools
• accountant access if someone helps with your books
• a year-end tax-return route, either in the same product or through a connected workflow

Compare the best MTD software for sole traders or use the software chooser. Xero is one all-in-one option with bank feeds, reconciliation and MTD support; check its current trial offer here.

If you want to keep a spreadsheet, that can still work, but you need compatible bridging software and valid digital links. Read our guide to using spreadsheets for MTD before rebuilding the workbook.

What happens after 7 November

The remaining standard deadlines for 2026 to 2027 are:

Cumulative standard period	Deadline
6 April 2026 to 5 January 2027	7 February 2027
6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027	7 May 2027

Calendar-period users report to 31 December and 31 March on the same deadlines.

Quarterly updates do not trigger a tax payment. They also do not remove your annual obligations. You still need to submit the 2025 to 2026 Self Assessment return in the normal way by 31 January 2027. Your first MTD tax return for 2026 to 2027 is due later, by 31 January 2028.

The practical win is not merely meeting 7 November. It is reaching the deadline with six months of usable records, making the February update and year-end work far easier. Set a weekly bookkeeping slot now, switch on software reminders and deal with uncategorised items while you still remember what they were.