How To Use This Site
To use this site, your Government Gateway account must be registered for Making Tax Digital. If you have not yet registered, do that first. After you register it can take around 72 hours for HMRC's systems to update your status.
Sign Up For MTD with HMRC (opens in new tab)
Overview
If you have previously submitted your tax return under Self-Assessment, it is likely that you will find it relatively easy to navigate this site, as filing under Making Tax Digital is not particularly different from filing under Self-Assessment. The main difference is that four quarterly updates need to be submitted during the tax year in addition to year-end filing.
Business transactions can either be recorded directly in TaxUpdates, or recorded elsewhere and uploaded for submission of quarterly updates. Updates only cover business income, all other information is filed after the end of the tax year, as it was previously.
TaxUpdates can be used to file both quarterly business updates and year-end information. All functionality that HMRC provide in relation to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will be made available on this site.
Updates & Year End
When you are logged in to TaxUpdates, you will see two options in the main menu - Updates and Year End. Updates is the place to go to submit a quarterly business update, and the Year End section is the place to go for everything else.
Tax Year
Each time you login, the site will default to the current tax year. The year can be changed at the top of most pages while you are logged in. When you change the year the page will reload with relevant information from the selected year.
The earliest tax year available with full functionality is 2026-27
Tax Calculation
HMRC provide a live tax calculation, which will update in real-time based on the information you submit. The latest calculation can be retrieved from HMRC at any time, it can be accessed by clicking on the link that says 'Tax Calculation'.
Updates
Quarterly Updates can either be uploaded from a spreadsheet, or income and expense transactions can be recorded within TaxUpdates, in which case there is no need to upload anything. Because updates are cumulative, you should use the same method throughout the tax year.
Recording transactions in TaxUpdates
To record your bookkeeping transactions directly in TaxUpdates you must be logged in using a TaxUpdates account.
- To record income and expense transactions, go to Updates in the main menu, select the relevant business, then select Bookkeeping to record income and expense transactions for the period.
- To submit an Update, go to Updates in the main menu, select the relevant business then go to Prepare -> Prepare from bookkeeping transactions..
The maximum number of transactions which can be recorded for one business in a tax year is 1,200. If your business records a large number of transactions, you should use a spreadsheet to submit updates.
Submitting updates from a spreadsheet
Submitting a quarterly business update is very straightforward, however it may need a bit of setting up the first time you do it because updates need to be in the format required by HMRC. Once you have submitted one update, the process for submitting future updates should be quick and easy.
You can either adapt an existing spreadsheet, or use a provided pro-forma spreadsheet. Click on the headings below to expand them for more details.
HMRC Income & Expense Categories
Business income and expenses must be categorised using category names set by HMRC. At the end of each quarter, the total for each category should be submitted to HMRC. Here are the HMRC categories:
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Click on the relevant business type above to view and copy the HMRC categories for your business. If you hover over a category in the list a text box will appear with a more user-friendly explanation of that category
Adapt An Existing Spreadsheet
If you already have a spreadsheet you use to record income and expenses, simply copy the HMRC categories shown above and paste them into a new sheet in your spreadsheet.
Ensure that the zeros in the 'Totals' column are replaced with the relevant values for your business, then submit the totals to HMRC at the end of each quarter.
Updates are cumulative, therefore totals for the whole of the tax year to-date should be submitted in each update.
Use A Pro-Forma MTD-Compliant Spreadsheet
Here are links to simple MTD-compliant spreadsheets which can be used or adapted. Guidance is given within each spreadsheet.
How To Format Uploads
If you are using one of the pro-forma spreadsheets, follow the instructions in the spreadsheet to download data and submit it to HMRC.
Uploaded data must be in csv (comma-separated-values) format. To get a csv file from a spreadsheet, make sure you are in the sheet you want to download, then simply go to file->download->csv (or similar, depending on which spreadsheet application you use). Download the file to your computer, then upload the csv file to TaxUpdates to submit it to HMRC.
The file must have two columns, the first showing the category name and the second showing the total for that category. If you copy the categories from the 'HMRC Income & Expense Categories' section above and paste them into your spreadsheet they will be in the correct format.
Only the HMRC-defined categories should be used to classify amounts in your uploaded data. Column headers and unused categories are not required, but can be included.
Year End
In the Year End section of the site, you can:
- Make adjustments to business income
- Submit details of other income, such as employment income, bank interest, dividends etc.
- Submit details of capital gains and losses
- Claim tax reliefs
- Check and amend CIS deductions
- Make various disclosures and elections
Completing this section is very similar to completing a tax return under the Self-Assessment system.
Final Declaration
HMRC provide a live tax calculation, which is updated each time information is added or updated. Once all relevant information for the tax year has been provided, a Final Declaration is submitted, in which you declare that the tax calculation reflects all of your income for the year and is complete.
The Final Declaration is effectively your tax return. It's not clear whether HMRC are still calling it a tax return, or whether it's now called a final declaration. In any case, once the Final Declaration has been submitted you have met your filing obligations for the year.
The due date for submission of the Final Declaration is 31 January following the end of the tax year.
FAQ
Upload Errors
The most common error which occurs is that the uploaded file is not in the correct format. Uploads must use csv format and must be laid out in two columns, the required layout can be seen by clicking on the relevant business type next to 'HMRC Income & Expense Categories' in the site footer.
Self-Employment - Construction Industry Scheme
Enter income gross when preparing an update. There is no need to submit details of CIS tax deducted - HMRC receive this from the contractors who make the deductions.
In the Year-End part of the site, there is a CIS section where you can see details of tax deducted. If the amounts are not correct, HMRC advise that you should first raise the issue with the contractor, otherwise amounts can be corrected in the CIS section after the end of the tax year.
Property Business - Replacement of Domestic Items
Replacement of domestic items relief should not be claimed in quarterly updates. After year-end, replacement of domestic items relief can be claimed using the Annual Submission.
Capital Allowances
These can be claimed after the end of the tax year, using the Annual Submission in the Year End section of the site.