UK sole traders and landlords who need to keep records and send quarterly updates to HMRC under MTD for Income Tax
Simple quarterly updates to HMRC for UK sole traders and landlords
A simple way to handle quarterly updates
EasyBooks is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. That gives you a simple, reliable way to keep your records in order and send quarterly updates with software built for the job.
EasyBooks is a great choice for
Anyone with one or more income sources as a sole trader and/or landlord
Businesses working on a cash basis or under traditional accounting (accruals)
Users who follow HMRC calendar or standard periods HMRC offers only two period types: Standard, the default option aligned with the UK tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), or Calendar, available only if your accounting period runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
Those already in scope for MTD for Income Tax, or getting ready early before they are required to start
People who need simple accounting and quarterly updates, and want both in one tool
Keep it simple from record to submission
1
Add records
What HMRC needs
Records of your income and expenses as a sole trader or landlord - not personal spending or items like savings interest.
How EasyBooks handles it
Create PDF invoices when you need them, or add simple entries when you don't: just the amount and the date. Keeping your records in a spreadsheet? Import them as CSV files on your Mac. You can also keep track of transactions that don't go into the quarterly update, like transfers between accounts.
2
Review
What HMRC needs
To HMRC, only the totals matter here: income and expenses for the quarterly update. You do not send your individual invoices or the full detail behind every transaction. HMRC expects you to make sure those totals are correct.
How EasyBooks handles it
We built it this way because we wanted the workflow to feel clear, intuitive and easy to trust. In EasyBooks, you can check the list of transactions behind those totals whenever you want, and you can also download the list to a spreadsheet.
3
Approve
What HMRC needs
HMRC expects a quarterly update four times a year: 7 Aug, 7 Nov, 7 Feb, 7 May. Each builds on the last.
How EasyBooks handles it
Review your totals, approve, and send. Need to add something later? Just add new records and send your update again.
After sending an update, check your submission history and current HMRC tax estimate anytime.
Download EasyBooks and start your 14-day free trial
Get started step by step: add a few records, check your figures, and see each quarter in one plain view. No accounting degree needed.
MTD for Income Tax is simple and intuitive enough that many users can handle the workflow themselves without needing a separate accountant for every step.
What EasyBooks gives you
Keep your business finances in one place, with MTD for Income Tax records and the other transactions you need beside them.- Import CSV files from your spreadsheets on Mac, so there's no need to retype your records.
- Create PDF invoices and handle unlimited transactions in the same app.
- See the reports you actually need, including profit and loss and balance sheet.
- Manage unlimited products, services and customers.
- Generate customer statements and send them to show who owes what.
- Use features like multicurrency, attachments and time tracking when you need them.
Built around real customer feedback
Our biggest priority is giving you the best possible customer experience, which is why EasyBooks is built around customer feedback and supported by real people, not an AI bot.
Choose the EasyBooks plan that fits your workflow
Monthly
Annual
Save up to 23%
Bronze
$17.00
/ month*
$165.00
/ year*
*billed in your local currency
Save up to $39 per year
-
File quarterly updates
for MTD Income Tax -
File VAT Returns for MTD*
-
Runs on Mac and iOS
-
Online syncing
-
Basic support
-
Unlimited transactions
Silver
$21.00
/ month*
$195.00
/ year*
*billed in your local currency
Save up to $57 per year
-
File quarterly updates
for MTD Income Tax -
File VAT Returns for MTD*
-
Runs on Mac and iOS
-
Online syncing
-
Basic support
-
Unlimited transactions
-
Customer invoicing
-
Time tracking
-
Attachments (5GB)
Gold
$26.00
/ month*
$245.00
/ year*
*billed in your local currency
Save up to $67 per year
-
File quarterly updates
for MTD Income Tax -
File VAT Returns for MTD*
-
Runs on Mac and iOS
-
Online syncing
-
Priority support
-
Unlimited transactions
-
Customer invoicing
-
Time tracking
-
Attachments (unlimited)
-
Foreign currencies
Your MTD for Income Tax questions, answered
Straight answers to the questions UK sole traders, freelancers and UK property landlords ask most before they start: digital records, quarterly updates, and how it all works in EasyBooks.
Yes. EasyBooks is bookkeeping software for Mac and iOS, and its Making Tax Digital for Income Tax features work on both: you keep digital records, look through them and send quarterly updates to HMRC from your Mac or your iPhone. EasyBooks doesn't run in a web browser; it's a native app you install, so your books live on the devices you already use every day.
Digital records are simply your business income and expenses recorded in software, transaction by transaction, instead of on paper or in scattered notes. If you already do basic bookkeeping, you're most of the way there. For Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, your records also need to line up with HMRC's income and expense categories, so your quarterly updates carry the right figures. In EasyBooks you match your accounts to HMRC's categories once, and from then on your everyday bookkeeping feeds your quarterly updates on its own.
EasyBooks imports CSV files from spreadsheets on Mac, so there's no need to retype your records into a new system. The income and expenses you already track become digital records for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, step by step: the import brings in your transactions and matches them to your existing customers, suppliers and products by name. Once your data is synced, it's ready to feed your quarterly updates.
Yes. EasyBooks shows you your MTD records for the quarter before you submit, so you can look through the figures, spot anything that doesn't look right and fix it in your bookkeeping first. Nothing goes to HMRC until you choose to send it. And once you do send an update, it shows as fulfilled in EasyBooks when HMRC confirms it has received it, so you know it arrived. Reporting four times a year sounds like four times the stress, but reviewing the figures before you send makes each update easier to check.
Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, each income source is reported on its own: quarterly updates for your self-employment, and separate quarterly updates for your UK property income. That sounds like double the work, but it doesn't need to be. EasyBooks supports multiple HMRC income sources and handles them source by source: you set each one up once, then send its updates from the same app. One thing to know: foreign property income isn't supported.
Not on their own. A quarterly update sends HMRC a summary of your income and expenses; it doesn't work out a bill, and there's nothing to pay when you send one. After you submit, HMRC can provide an estimate of your tax so far, and EasyBooks can show you that estimate as a separate view. It's a helpful guide for setting money aside, not a final bill: your actual tax is settled through your end-of-year return, so no need to worry when the estimate moves during the year.
Not at the year end. Quarterly updates spread the record-keeping across the year, so there's no January pile-up, but they don't settle your bill: after the fourth quarter you still finalise your tax for the year, and that's where your actual tax bill is worked out. For the 2026/27 tax year the deadline is 31 January 2028. EasyBooks keeps your digital records and quarterly updates organised during the year, but it does not currently submit your final tax return. We are considering adding this feature in the future. Based on feedback from our customers, we know that many people choose to send their quarterly updates through EasyBooks and ask their accountant to submit the final tax return. This route is possible: your accountant can submit it as your main agent using compatible software. Check this setup with your accountant first to make sure they can support it.
No. You do not need a large accounting suite to keep digital records and send quarterly updates. EasyBooks gives you simple bookkeeping for income and expenses, invoices when you use them, and a clear view of each quarter before it goes to HMRC. EasyBooks does not currently submit your final tax return, although we are considering adding this feature in the future. You can ask your accountant to submit it as your main agent using compatible software, while you continue to use EasyBooks for your records and quarterly updates.
