You can, or any agent you authorise through HMRC: an accountant, a bookkeeper or a managed service. They need an HMRC agent services account. Your first update, if you start in April 2027, is due 7 August 2027.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) asks for four quarterly updates a year, sent from compatible software. HMRC does not mind who prepares them, but it does control who can send them for you. This page follows GOV.UK as checked on 15 October 2026.
Want your books sorted?
We sort your books and prepare your quarterly figures. You send them to HMRC yourself with free Making Tax Digital software.
Founding offer on Trades Tax (coming later), first 500 trades clients: £5 a month for your first 3 months, then £35 a month. Cancel any time. We’ll remind you before it changes. Prices include VAT. No payment is taken while you wait.
Are you ready for Making Tax Digital? Check your start date and what to sort first. It’s free and takes a minute.
Your options
| Who sends the update | What they do | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| You, with record-keeping software | The software builds the update from your records | Keep records, check the totals, press send |
| You, with bridging software | Links your spreadsheet to HMRC | Keep the spreadsheet up to date, send the update |
| A bookkeeper | Keeps your records and sends the updates | Pass on paperwork or bank access, answer questions |
| An accountant | Sends the updates and your tax return | Provide records and approve the figures |
| A managed service | Builds records from your bank feed or paperwork, sends updates and the return | Confirm the figures before they go |
Most people who use someone else still keep their own receipts and invoices. The difference is who turns them into the update and who sends it.
Main and supporting agents
HMRC lets you have one main agent and any number of supporting agents.
- A main agent can do almost everything you can, including sending quarterly updates and your tax return. They cannot set up a Direct Debit for you or change how HMRC contacts you.
- A supporting agent sees only your business and property income details. They can sign you up, add or cease a business and send quarterly updates, but not your tax return.
A common split is a bookkeeper as supporting agent for the updates, and an accountant as main agent for the tax return. If you already have an agent for Self Assessment, they can bring that authorisation across and HMRC treats them as your main agent. Choosing a new main agent removes the old one's access.
What any agent must have
- An HMRC agent services account. An agent needs one to sign clients up for MTD. HMRC is bringing in, in stages, a requirement for anyone paid to deal with it about someone else's tax to register, through an online service opened on 18 May 2026, and for a new firm that registration is the agent services account application.
- Money-laundering supervision. Accountants and professional bookkeepers must be supervised, by HMRC or a professional body. GOV.UK says HMRC rejects an agent services account application until that supervision is approved.
- Your authorisation, not your password. HMRC's standard for agents says agents must never ask for a client's HMRC sign-in details.
- Terms agreed first. The same standard says fees, how any repayment reaches you and how to end the arrangement should be agreed before work starts.
What this means for you
If you start on 6 April 2027, your first update covers 6 April to 5 July 2027 and is due by 7 August 2027. At the Budget on 28 October 2026 the government said people who must join in April 2027 will get no penalty points for late 2027-28 quarterly updates either, though the updates must still be sent. For them, the earliest a late update can earn a point is 7 August 2028. Once points can start, four points means a £200 penalty. Ask anyone you use how they make sure deadlines are met.
On cost, a typical return fee is £200–£500 + VAT, according to fee guides published by accountancy firms in 2026. Quarterly updates are usually charged on top, often as a monthly fee.
Steps to choose who does your updates
- Use the free MTD check to confirm your start date and first deadline.
- Decide how much you want to do yourself: send updates from software, or hand them over.
- If you hand them over, ask whether the person or firm has an HMRC agent services account and money-laundering supervision, and who supervises them.
- Ask whether they will be your main agent, which includes the tax return, or a supporting agent for the updates only.
- Get the fee in writing, including VAT, and what happens if you want to leave.
- Accept their authorisation request through HMRC. Never share your HMRC password.
- Check after each deadline that the update has gone, in your HMRC online account.
There are more guides for tradespeople in the trades section and for rental income in the landlord section.
Hold your place on the waitlist
We’ll email you when Trades Tax opens, with the founding offer while places last. No payment is taken.
Questions people ask
Can a bookkeeper send my quarterly updates?
Yes, if they have an HMRC agent services account and you authorise them. A supporting agent can send quarterly updates but cannot send your tax return, so someone else, either you or a main agent, does that.
Do I have to give them my HMRC password?
No, and you should not. HMRC's standard for agents says agents must never ask for a client's HMRC sign-in details. You authorise them through HMRC instead.
My accountant already does my Self Assessment. Do I need to authorise them again?
Usually not. GOV.UK says an agent can add existing Self Assessment authorisations, and HMRC then treats them as your main agent for MTD. They still need to sign you up for MTD.
Can I have more than one agent?
Yes. You can have one main agent and any number of supporting agents. Both kinds can send quarterly updates, but only the main agent can send your tax return.
Can I go back to doing it myself?
Yes. You can remove an agent from your HMRC online account using the Manage your tax agent or Manage who can deal with HMRC option, then send updates from your own software.
Sources
- Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- Sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- Apply for an agent services account (GOV.UK)
- Check if and when you need to register with HMRC (GOV.UK)
- The HMRC standard for agents (GOV.UK)
- Check if you need to register for money laundering supervision if you're an accountancy service provider (GOV.UK)
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates (GOV.UK)
This is general information to help you understand the rules. It isn't tailored to your circumstances, so check your own position before acting on it.
Righto Tax is a trading name of NJG Consultancy Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16095900. Registered office: Jubilee House, East Beach, Lytham St Annes, FY8 5FT.
What happens next
- Use the free Making Tax Digital checker to see your own start date and deadlines.
- See what Righto Tax for Trades does for you, and join the waitlist.
- Questions about this page? Email hello@rightotax.co.uk.