MTD due 7th November 2026: Agent's checklist for Q2

The next Making Tax Digital deadline for Income Tax is Saturday 7 November 2026, when the second quarterly update for 2026-27 is submitted. Q2 is cumulative. Standard updates cover 6 April to 5 October 2026, whereas calendar updates normally cover 1 April to 30 September 2026.

HMRC will not apply late quarterly update penalty points for 2026-27, but the reporting requirements still apply. For sole traders and landlords, the immediate task is to check that records and software are ready.

For accountants and bookkeepers, it is also a workload problem, with clients already needing chasing and who have joined MTD without telling you.

This checklist brings those decisions together, so your practice can work through its client list before the deadline date.

All the MTD deadline dates for Income Tax in 2026-27

The MTD quarterly deadlines are the same whether a business uses standard or calendar update periods.

The table shows cumulative coverage rather than only the latest 3 months.

MTD deadlines, 2026-27 quarterly updates, and annual filing dates

For a closer look at cumulative quarterly reporting and the final declaration, read our guide to MTD Income Tax quarterly updates.

Calendar start dates can differ where a business changes update periods between tax years. Check the period shown in the client software.

Sending a quarterly update does not create the quarterly tax payment deadline. MTD does not change when Income Tax payments are due, including payments on account where applicable.

Looking for the VAT return deadline? VAT follows a separate timetable. The online VAT return deadline is usually 1 calendar month and 7 days after the accounting period ends. Check the actual deadline in the VAT account.

Where does your client stand after submitting the Q1 quarterly update?

On 12 August 2026, HMRC reported that more than 436,000 sole traders and landlords had submitted their first quarterly update, and over 570,000 customers had signed up.

HMRC has also been signing up customers automatically since September. Registration alone does not establish that their digital records, authorisations, or software are ready. Ask clients about HMRC correspondence, as agents do not receive copies of the automatic sign-up letters, according to the ICAEW October update.

The useful starting point is therefore a client-by-client status check, rather than assuming everyone who has filed Q1 is ready for Q2.

What is new about the November Q2 update?

After submission, the taxpayer's HMRC online account should show "You sent a quarterly update" in recent activity. Check the submission result in your software too.

HMRC's announcement also confirms that the next mandatory cohort with qualifying income over £30,000 starts in April 2027. Receiving preparation messages for that cohort does not itself create a mandatory November 2026 obligation. Check each client's required start date.

The Q2 checklist for accounting practices

1. Separate filing status from registration status

Before preparing Q2 updates, mark which clients have completed Q1, which have an outstanding submission, and which need to complete their MTD registration or software connection.

AbraTax makes it easier to see where your clients stand. Its agent dashboard brings client MTD obligations into one place, pulling information directly from HMRC. Once clients are connected, you can view the next quarterly updates and statuses of filings such as draft, pending approval, and submitted, rather than having to go through each client’s HMRC obligations one by one.

This will help you see which connected clients have updates outstanding and which submission need to be attended to prior to the deadline.For your practice's internal workflow, distinguish between:

• Q1 submitted or outstanding
• HMRC registration and software connection status
• Records received or still missing
• Client approval pending
• Next action and responsible team member

If HMRC has automatically signed up a client, flag this separately. An automatic registration does not necessarily mean the software connection is ready. AbraTax also allows agents to organise clients into groups and assign team members with permissions, helping practices divide Q2 preparation and follow-up responsibilities.

2. Check automatic signups in your Agent Services Account

HMRC has been automatically signing up some eligible taxpayers for MTD Income Tax. However, receiving an automatic registration letter does not mean that everything is ready for quarterly submissions.

Go to the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax section of your Agent Services Accounts (ASA). For existing signed up clients, click on Manage Self-Assessment Details and then enter the client’s unique taxpayer reference. This Association of Taxation Technicians explains this.

After you’ve verified client registration and authorisation, you need to link your Agent Services Account (ASA) with AbraTax. AbraTax let's you manage your clients' MTD for Income Tax and VAT submissions in one place.

Before submitting the client's first update, also check whether they use standard or calendar reporting periods. A calendar period election must be made through software before the first update. Once an update has been submitted, the period cannot change for the rest of the tax year.

3. Chase records for the cumulative period

Q2 is a cumulative update, which means your clients records must cover the year to date, not just the latest three months.

For standard updates, Q2 covers 6 April to 5 October 2026. For calendar updates, check the start date and collect records through 30 September 2026.

When requesting records, specify the business reporting period, outstanding documents, and your practise's internal deadline. Ask clients to flag corrections to the old records as well as new transactions. This gives accounting practices a practical way to work with spreadsheet-based clients while maintaining the required digital links.

Once records are ready, the update can be prepared and saved as a draft in AbraTax or your approved software, ready for review or approval. AbraTax provides Excel templates for self-employment, UK property, and foreign property. You can also use this simple checklist for landlords and sole traders to help clients provide the information needed for MTD Income Tax submissions. For more guidance on what records clients need to maintain, see our MTD Q2 record-keeping guide for sole traders and landlords.

4. Using the cumulative reporting rules, fix any Q1 updates that were missed.

With the November deadline looming, some clients may have a Q1 update outstanding. A missed Q1 doesn’t always require a separate Q1 submission prior to Q2. If your clients missed the August deadline, our guide to missed Q1 updates explains the first-year penalty concession and how to catch up.HMRC technical guidance says a second cumulative update can meet both Q1 and Q2 obligations, as Q2 includes the year-to-date figures.

Practitioners should review the clients’ digital records back to the applicable beginning of the tax year and ensure the cumulative totals are complete. In AbraTax, you can check the client dashboard for the outstanding obligation and prepare the relevant quarterly submission. Upload the required CSV, check the figures and save the updated draft or submit to HMRC through the platform.

After submitting, ensure that your approved software has captured a successful submission and HMRC has cleared the relevant obligation. Do not assume that a Q2 submission has automatically addressed a Q1 issue without reviewing the results. For clients who joined MTD during the year, digital records may need to be brought up to date from the applicable start of the tax year rather than the registration date. HMRC will not let quarterly update penalty points for 2026-27, but that does not remove the reporting requirements.

5. Count businesses not just clients

One of the easiest mistakes when preparing multiple MTD updates is counting clients rather than their individual business sources.

For example, a client with one sole trade and one UK property business will normally need two quarterly updates. Multiple properties within the same UK property business do not require a separate update.

UK property and foreign property are also treated as separate businesses for MTD reporting where both are reportable.

AbraTax supports multiple business income sources for your clients, including self employment, UK property and foreign property.Agents can select the relevant income type, access its quarterly obligations and use the appropriate AbraTax spreadsheet template to prepare the submission.

6. Review cumulative totals and prior corrections

Q2 updates must include cumulative income and expense totals from the start of the reporting period. Practices need to make sure the Q1 figures are included properly and not double counted.

For example, if a client reported an income of £12,000 for Q1 and has earned a further £15,000 in the last three months, the Q2 cumulative income would be £27,000 (assuming no adjustments).

Upload the figures and verify them before you decide to save the update as a draft or submit it to HMRC. If there are errors in Q1, correct the underlying digital records and ensure the revised figures are reflected in Q2.

Because MTD updates are cumulative resubmitting Q1 is not generally necessary just to correct those,Instead, correct the underlying digital records and ensure the revised totals are reflected in Q2.

If you need to amend a previously submitted quarterly update, you can do so using AbraTax. It allows you to update the figures and submit the revised information to HMRC. Accounting and tax adjustments do not need to be completed before sending a quarterly update. For more on how cash basis and traditional accounting affect MTD records, read our cash basis versus traditional accounting guide.For practices managing multiple clients, AbraTax’s Pro feature client approval workflow is a very helpful feature AbraTax provides. Then once the update has been prepared and sent to the client for review and approval, agents can submit it to HMRC.This simplifies the review and submission process for practices with a large client base, particularly when there are numerous quarterly updates to be handled.

7. Clear outstanding queries and get ready for Q3

The deadline for Q2 is Saturday 7 November 2026 so practices will need to make sure any outstanding HMRC access, authorisation and submission issues are sorted before the weekend.

HMRC’s dedicated agent line to close on deadline day. The self-assessment helpline will be available from 9am to 3pm and the web chat from 8am to 4pm UK time. HMRC suggests contacting its full telephone service during the working week where possible.

Before the deadline, use the AbraTax dashboard to review client obligations that are outstanding, check on the status of submissions, and find any updates that require more attention. Should you have any problems with the software upload or validation, please contact AbraTax support.

After Q2 is completed, get ready for the next reporting cycle. The Q3 MTD deadline is 7 February 2027, just 7 days after the self-assessment deadline for 2025-26 on 31 January 2027.

AbraTax lets you see upcoming quarterly obligations for connected clients and use the same spreadsheet-based workflow for Q3 submission.

Prepare your clients Q2 updates with AbraTax

The 7 November deadline is approaching, but managing multiple clients quarterly updates does not need to mean managing multiple disconnected workflows.

With AbraTax, accounting practices can view connected clients HMRC obligations, manage clients and team access, prepare updates from spreadsheets, request client approvals and submit quarterly updates to HMRC.

Whether you are completing outstanding Q1 updates or preparing cumulative Q2 figures, AbraTax gives your practice a central place to manage the submission process.Ready to file? Follow our step-by-step Q2 submission guide to prepare your spreadsheet, upload your figures, and submit through AbraTax.

Get started with AbraTax for agents