Quarterly updates are the four digital submissions that sole traders and partnerships within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) must send to HMRC each year, summarising their income and expenses for each three-month period of the tax year.
The four deadline dates are fixed each year:
- Quarter 1 (6 April to 5 July): due by 7 August
- Quarter 2 (6 July to 5 October): due by 7 November
- Quarter 3 (6 October to 5 January): due by 7 February
- Quarter 4 (6 January to 5 April): due by 7 May
The 7th of the month is the submission deadline, not the 5th (which is simply the end of each quarter period). This catches taxpayers out in the first year.
Quarterly updates are not a tax payment. They are a digital record of your income and expenditure for the period, submitted via MTD-compatible software. HMRC uses them to give you an in-year tax estimate, but no payment is triggered by filing a quarterly update. The actual tax calculation and any refund or balancing payment still happen after the year-end final declaration.
For CIS subcontractors, the quarterly income figure to report is gross CIS income (before deductions). Recording the net figure (cash received after 20% deductions) is a common error that understates income and can produce a misleading tax estimate across the year.
In the first year of MTD ITSA (2026/27), HMRC will not issue penalty points for late quarterly updates. However, the year-end obligations (end-of-period statement and final declaration) still carry penalties if late, and late tax payments still attract interest and surcharges.
For the full MTD ITSA picture including the gross-income threshold trap, see our guide to Making Tax Digital and CIS.