If your income from self-employment or property put you into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax this year, you've already filed one quarterly update. Your second is due by 7 November 2026, and it doesn't work quite the way most people expect the second time round.
It's not "the next three months"
The natural assumption is that your first update covered April to July, so your second covers August to October. It doesn't. MTD quarterly updates are cumulative, meaning each one covers the whole tax year so far, not just the latest quarter.
Your Q2 update, due 7 November, covers 6 April to 5 October 2026 in full. It effectively restates your Q1 figures and adds the next three months on top, rather than reporting August to October in isolation.
Why that's actually helpful
This trips people up at first, but it works in your favour. If you estimated a figure in your first update and later realised it was wrong, you don't need to go back and correct anything separately. You simply get it right in this update, and because each one covers the whole year to date, the correction happens automatically.
The same applies going forward. Nothing you submit in October is locked in stone until your Final Declaration at year end.
What to actually submit
You're reporting totals only, income and expense categories from your digital records, not individual receipts or invoices. If you have more than one income source in MTD, for example a sole trade and a rental property, each source needs its own separate update.
What to do now
- Check your software has captured everything from April through to 5 October, not just the last quarter
- If anything in your Q1 figures turns out to have been estimated or wrong, don't worry, just make sure Q2 reflects the correct year-to-date picture
- File by 7 November. Missing it as a mandated user adds a penalty point, and four points brings a £200 fine
- Remember there's no tax due with this update itself, that's settled later through your Final Declaration
Two updates down means you're most of the way through the learning curve. The last two of the year follow exactly the same pattern.
If you'd rather this ran quietly in the background without you needing to think about quarter ends, that's what we handle for MTD clients.