57 Days to Your First MTD IT Submission: Are Your Clients Ready?

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD IT) went live on the 6th of April 2026, and the first quarterly update (covering income and expenses from the 6th of April to the 5th of July) must reach HMRC by the 7th of August 2026.

This blog is part of our series, Making Tax Digital for Accountants: Your Complete MTD IT Compliance Guide.

For any client in scope who isn’t set up yet, that window is closing fast.

If there is a late submission, the soft landing in year one means penalty points won’t automatically convert to financial penalties straight away. However, the obligation to submit is not optional. From April 2027 the full penalty system applies, so building late habits now will create problems in twelve months.

Your In-Scope Client List Is Probably Larger Than You Think

MTD IT applies to anyone who is self-employed or a landlord with a gross income exceeding £50,000 per year. The threshold is straightforward, but the scope catches people out.

Why? Well, combined income counts. So, if a client makes £30,000 from a sole trade and £25,000 from a rental property, they’re still in scope, even if neither income stream crosses £50,000 on its own.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on which clients sit just below the threshold, as the limit drops to £30,000 for the next tax year in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028. So, clients who are outside scope today may be inside scope in just a few months. Building your onboarding process now means the next expansion costs you far less effort.

MTD IT Quarterly Submission Schedule

★ First deadline: 57 days away.

Three Things That Must Be in Place Before the 7th of August

• Compatible software, properly authorised
  Clients need MTD-compatible software that can submit quarterly updates directly to HMRC, and that software needs to be authorised to interact with HMRC’s systems on the client’s behalf. If you’re recommending new software to clients now, don’t assume they can be onboarded and authorised in the final days of July.

• Digital records from the 6th of April
  MTD IT requires digital record-keeping from the start of the tax year. Income and expenses need to have been captured digitally since the 6th of April 2026. The earlier you switch over your paper-based clients, the more manageable the fix.

• A single solution for clients with mixed income
  A self-employed client who also receives rental income needs software capable of handling both streams within the same MTD IT submission. Not all compatible products do this well, so shop around now while you’ve still got time.

Four Weeks Until the Next MTD IT Deadline: What to Do Next

The practices handling this best are treating it as a project rather than a series of individual client calls.

Start by auditing your client base against the £50,000 threshold, checking combined income across self-employment and property.

Then segment by readiness. Clients already using compatible software with authorisation in place, clients with software but no authorisation yet, and clients with nothing set up.

Communicate proactively. Many clients still don’t realise MTD IT has started, let alone that their first submission is eight weeks away. A short, clear message explaining what they need to do and by when will protect your practice as much as it helps them.

The infrastructure you build for the current cohort is the same infrastructure you’ll use as the threshold expands in 2027 and 2028. Build it properly now, and the next wave is manageable.

Looking for some information on how to price your MTD IT services? Give our blog, how to price your MTD IT services, a read.

How BrightBooks Helps Your Practice Meet the Deadline

One of the practical challenges with MTD IT is that your client base is not uniform. Some clients are comfortable with cloud software and will take to it quickly. Others have been on the same Excel spreadsheet for a decade and are not changing without a fight. A landlord with two properties and a simple rental income pattern has very different needs from a self-employed contractor managing multiple income streams.

BrightBooks is Bright’s HMRC-recognised bookkeeping software built specifically for MTD IT quarterly deadlines. Rather than forcing every client down the same path, it serves all four types of client you are likely to encounter right now.

• For clients happy to go fully digital, BrightBooks provides complete cloud-based bookkeeping with real-time collaboration between you and the client, and direct HMRC submission for quarterly filing.

• For clients who live in Excel and will not leave it, the built-in bridging tool lets them keep their spreadsheets whilst you import and review the figures before filing.

• For clients who run everything through a business bank account, automated bank feeds and smart transaction categorisation handle the record-keeping with minimal client involvement.

• For the shoebox clients who turn up with a carrier bag of receipts, receipt capture via Dext integration converts paper records into digital ones without a manual data entry marathon.

For further information, check out our blog on how to master quarterly updates with BrightBooks. You don’t have to impose a one-size-fits-all solution on every client. BrightBooks works alongside wherever each client currently is on their digital journey, and your review-and-submit workflow stays consistent regardless of how each client provides their records.

If you’re looking at the 7th of August deadline and a list of clients who are not yet set up, book a demo with the Bright team to see how quickly BrightBooks can get your practice MTD-ready across all client types.

This content may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. Content is reviewed by a member of the Bright team before publication. Guidance on legislation can be obtained from your industry body.