| Overview |
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) requires eligible self-employed individuals and landlords to submit quarterly updates of their income and expenses to HMRC, followed by a final end-of-period statement and a tax return.
Quarterly submissions under MTD ITSA are made through BrightBooks — not BrightTax. BrightTax handles the annual Self Assessment tax return and end-of-period statement, while BrightBooks is the product used to record income and expenses and submit the quarterly updates to HMRC throughout the year.
| ⚠ Important: Quarterly MTD ITSA updates cannot be submitted from within BrightTax. A BrightBooks subscription is required. If you or your client do not currently have access to BrightBooks, contact the Bright sales team to add it to your subscription. |
| How MTD ITSA Works Across the Bright Product Suite |
The MTD ITSA workflow is split across two Bright products depending on the type of submission:
| Submission Type | Product | When |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly income and expense updates | BrightBooks | Four times per year — within one month of each quarter end |
| End-of-period statement (EOPS) | BrightBooks | Once per year — after the final quarter |
| Final declaration (tax return) | BrightTax | Once per year — by 31 January following the tax year end |
| What BrightBooks Does for Quarterly Submissions |
BrightBooks is a cloud bookkeeping product that connects directly to HMRC's MTD ITSA API. Through BrightBooks, your clients can:
- Record their self-employment income and expenses throughout the quarter
- Record their UK property income and expenses throughout the quarter
- Submit each quarter's summary of income and expenses directly to HMRC
- Submit the end-of-period statement once all four quarters are complete
- View their submitted data and HMRC's acknowledgement in one place
| What BrightTax Does for the Annual Return |
Once the quarterly submissions and end-of-period statement have been completed in BrightBooks, BrightTax is used to:
- Prepare and submit the final Self Assessment tax return (the final declaration)
- Include all other income sources — employment, dividends, savings, pension
- Calculate and confirm the final tax liability for the year
- Submit the final declaration to HMRC by the 31 January deadline
| Getting Access to BrightBooks |
If you do not currently have a BrightBooks subscription, contact the Bright sales team. They can advise on pricing, subscription options, and how BrightBooks integrates with your existing BrightTax workflow.
Contact the Bright Sales Team To add BrightBooks to your subscription or to find out more: ✉ brighttaxsales@brightsg.com |
| Frequently Asked Questions |
Q: Can I submit quarterly MTD ITSA updates from BrightTax?
A: No. Quarterly updates require BrightBooks. BrightTax handles the final annual Self Assessment tax return (the final declaration) once the quarterly submissions are complete.
Q: My client is mandated for MTD ITSA from April 2026 — what do they need?
A: They will need BrightBooks to submit their quarterly income and expense updates, and BrightTax for their annual Self Assessment return. Contact the sales team at brighttaxsales@brightsg.com to discuss the right setup for your practice.
Q: Does BrightBooks connect to BrightTax?
A: Yes. The two products are designed to work together — quarterly data recorded in BrightBooks flows through to the annual return workflow in BrightTax, reducing duplication of data entry across the two systems.
Q: I already use BrightBooks — where do I find the quarterly submission steps?
A: Full guidance on submitting quarterly updates is available in the BrightBooks Help Centre. Log in to BrightBooks and access the Help Centre from the support menu.
Q: What are the MTD ITSA quarterly submission deadlines?
A: Quarterly updates must be submitted within one month of the end of each quarter. The standard MTD ITSA quarterly periods are: 6 April–5 July, 6 July–5 October, 6 October–5 January, and 6 January–5 April. Each update is due by the 5th of the following month.
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