Can I use calendar quarters for Making Tax Digital?

Yes. Making Tax Digital quarters can end on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March. The deadlines do not move: 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, starting 7 August 2027 for the April 2027 group.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) asks you to send HMRC a summary of your self-employed and property income and costs every 3 months. By default, those periods follow the tax year and end on the 5th of the month. The other option, calendar update periods, ends each period on the last day of a month. This page follows GOV.UK and the Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026, checked on 16 October 2026.

Standard and calendar periods side by side

Each update covers the tax year so far, not just the latest 3 months. That is the same under both options.

Who calendar periods are meant for

GOV.UK says to use standard periods if your accounting period runs 6 April to 5 April, and calendar periods if it runs 1 April to 31 March. Its digital records guidance adds that calendar periods make record-keeping simpler when your accounting period lines up with the end of a month.

In practice that often fits:

• a tradesperson whose bank statements, invoicing and supplier accounts all run to the end of the month, so each update ends on the same day as a statement;
• a landlord whose letting agent sends monthly statements to the last day of the month;
• anyone whose accounts have always been drawn up to 31 March.

If your books already run to 5 April, standard periods need no change at all.

The 1 April start

Choosing calendar periods moves your start date. GOV.UK says that if your accounting period ends on 31 March, you create digital records from 1 April of the tax year you start, not 6 April. Regulation 5 of SI 2026/336 says the same: a calendar quarters election makes your digital start date 1 April. For the group starting in April 2027, that means digital records from 1 April 2027, with the first update covering 1 April to 30 June 2027 and due by 7 August 2027.

Switching in a later year

The choice is made in your software, but the law treats it as an election under regulation 11. It lasts until you withdraw it, and the first period after a switch is adjusted so no days are missed or counted twice.

The deadline for each of those first updates is still 7 August 2028. If you withdraw the election before sending any update for a year, standard periods apply from that year. If you have already sent one, calendar periods carry on to the end of that year and standard periods start the next.

What this means for you

Calendar periods are a convenience, not a different set of rules. You send the same 4 updates, by the same deadlines, followed by the same tax return. The only real decision is which date your records start from and where each quarter ends.

The timing is the part to get right. GOV.UK says you cannot change your update periods for the rest of the tax year once you have sent an update. So if you want calendar periods for your first MTD year, set it up before your first update, ideally before 1 April so your records start on the right day.

Your software also has to support it. GOV.UK's software finder lists working with your accounting period, whether standard, calendar or neither, as one of the features to check before you choose a product.

Steps to choose calendar quarters

1. Check what date your books run to now. If it is 31 March, calendar periods match. If it is 5 April, keep the standard ones.
2. Check that your MTD software supports calendar update periods before you buy or sign up.
3. Select calendar update periods in the software before you send your first quarterly update of the year.
4. Start your digital records from 1 April, not 6 April.
5. Put 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May in your diary. They do not change.
6. If you want to switch back later, do it before sending the first update of that year.

The free MTD check shows when you start. Tradespeople can find more in the trades section and landlords in the landlord section.