This free MTD quarterly update template prepares a sole trader’s figures for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Enter each quarter’s income and expenses under HMRC’s categories, and a second tab turns them into the cumulative year-to-date totals that each update needs, with the period dates and deadline for each. It prepares figures; it does not send them to HMRC.
What does each quarterly update need?
From the 2025-26 tax year, every quarterly update is cumulative. Each one covers 6 April to the end of the latest period, so Update 3 contains everything from Update 1 and Update 2 as well. The template works out these running totals for you on the Cumulative Updates tab.
| Update | Standard period | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 April to 5 July | 7 August |
| 2 | 6 April to 5 October | 7 November |
| 3 | 6 April to 5 January | 7 February |
| 4 | 6 April to 5 April | 7 May |
If you have chosen calendar update periods, the quarters end on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March instead. Set Update periods to Calendar and the dates change; the deadlines do not. See MTD key dates for the full calendar.
Which categories does the template use?
The expense rows match HMRC’s 15 self-employment categories, in the order they appear on the tax return: cost of goods, construction industry payments to subcontractors, wages and staff costs, car, van and travel, rent, rates, power and insurance, repairs and maintenance, phone, fax, stationery and other office costs, advertising, business entertainment, interest on loans, bank and financial charges, irrecoverable debts, professional fees, depreciation, and other business expenses.
Enter every business cost in the right row, even ones that are not allowable for tax such as entertainment or depreciation. You add those back at the year end, along with capital allowances, to reach your adjusted profit.
Who needs to send quarterly updates?
MTD for Income Tax applies to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income (gross self-employment and property income) over £50,000 from 6 April 2026 and over £30,000 from 6 April 2027. The government plans to lower the threshold to £20,000 from 6 April 2028. The qualifying income guide explains how HMRC measures it.
aligned.tax is HMRC-recognised bridging software that sends quarterly updates from your spreadsheet records, and it is free for individuals filing their own MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates. If you prepare your figures in Google Sheets, download the file as .xlsx before uploading it.
