19 short videos recorded in the real product. Each one shows a single job, from connecting to HMRC to sending the update, so you can follow along on your own screen. Choose who you are and the right set appears first.
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Twelve short videos, in the order most people need them: connect to HMRC, see your deadlines, then file your first quarterly update from your own spreadsheet, our free template or your bank transactions. Landlords with several, jointly owned or foreign properties have their own video.
Open the 12-video playlist on YouTubeFor everyone filing their own updates
Create your aligned.tax account, then connect it to HMRC once so your quarters and deadlines appear.
For everyone filing their own updates
See every quarter, its deadline and what to do next on your aligned.tax dashboard.
For everyone filing their own updates
Choose between the spreadsheet you already keep, our free template, or transactions recorded in aligned.tax.
For anyone who already keeps a spreadsheet
Upload the workbook you already keep. Smart Map matches your own labels to HMRC’s fields and you check every figure before sending.
For landlords with one UK property
Fill in the free landlord template, upload it, check the figures and send your quarterly update to HMRC.
For landlords with more than one UK property
Keep each UK property on its own tab of the Portfolio template and send one UK property update from the Quarterly Summary.
For landlords who own a property with someone else
Set your ownership share in the free landlord template and send your own quarterly update for your share only.
For landlords with property outside the UK
Put each overseas property in its own column of the foreign property template and send them together as one quarterly update.
For sole traders and the self-employed
Fill in the free Sole Trader template, upload it, check the figures and send your first quarterly update to HMRC.
For people with a business and a rental
File a separate quarterly update for each business, each with its own quarters and its own HMRC receipt.
For anyone who would rather start from a bank export
Import a bank export, check each suggested HMRC category, then file the quarter from your saved records.
For anyone keeping records in aligned.tax
Enter a payment or drop in a receipt or invoice, check what was read, and confirm it once the money has moved.
Two overviews, then five walkthroughs of the practice workflow: connect your practice to HMRC, add clients and get authorised, collect records with a private upload link, submit a quarterly update for a client and share the work with your team.
Open the 7-video playlist on YouTubeFor practice owners planning for MTD
An overview of the volume problem Making Tax Digital creates for practices and how aligned.tax runs the quarter as one workflow.
For practices with clients on spreadsheets, software or paper
A practice brings in a spreadsheet, a bookkeeping export and a transaction list, then reviews and submits each quarterly update itself.
For every practice, first
Create your practice account, then connect it to HMRC with your agent services account so you can add clients.
For practices adding their first clients
Add a client, send HMRC’s authorisation request and see when they have approved it, or import a whole client list.
For practices collecting quarterly records
Send a client a private upload link for one quarter. They upload their spreadsheet without an account or a password.
For anyone in the practice who files
Prepare a client’s received spreadsheet, check the figures and submit their quarterly update to HMRC with the client named on the declaration.
For practices with more than one person filing
Invite colleagues as Practice Managers or Team Members, then assign each client’s quarter on Work.
Keep your income and expense records in a spreadsheet, then use HMRC-recognised bridging software to send the totals to HMRC through a digital link. In aligned.tax you upload the .xlsx workbook, check how each column maps to HMRC’s categories, review the figures and submit. Videos 04, 05 and 09 show the whole route.
Source: GOV.UK guidance
Standard quarterly updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, covering the tax year from 6 April. HMRC also allows calendar quarters by election. Video 02 shows where each deadline appears in aligned.tax, with dates taken straight from HMRC.
Source: GOV.UK guidance
Each update contains your totals for the tax year so far, not just the last three months. A wrong figure in quarters one to three is corrected by sending the next update with the right year-to-date totals. After the final quarter, resend that update with the corrected totals.
Source: GOV.UK guidance
No. A quarterly update is a summary of your records, with no tax to pay at that point. Your tax return under Making Tax Digital is the final declaration, due by 31 January after the tax year ends. Existing payment deadlines continue, including payments on account where they apply.
Source: GOV.UK guidance
Yes. An agent authorised through HMRC’s agent services account can send quarterly updates on your behalf. A supporting agent can send quarterly updates and annual business information; only a main agent can send the final declaration. Videos 14 to 18 show the practice side.
Source: GOV.UK guidance
No. Every video is public on YouTube and plays on this page. Create a free account when you are ready to connect to HMRC and file your own quarterly update.
If you file your own updates, start with video 01, connecting to HMRC, then video 03, which helps you choose between your own spreadsheet, our free template and transactions. Accountants start with video 14, signing up the practice and connecting to HMRC.
The screens are the real aligned.tax product. The HMRC steps were recorded against HMRC’s test service with fictional people, so no real tax data appears. Live filing follows exactly the same steps, and every video has English captions.
aligned.tax is HMRC-recognised bridging software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.Free for individuals, for filing your own MTD Income Tax quarterly updates. Practices: free until april 2027, then per-client pricing.