The short answer
Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, HMRC holds a separate record for each self-employment business and one record for your UK property business. In SimpleTaxFlow, open Account, find Your businesses and choose a business to check its Accounting type, Period of account, Quarterly cadence and Late Accounting Date Rule. These settings decide which update periods and figures appear in Tax.
Is this the right guide?
Use this guide to check the businesses HMRC holds for you and the reporting settings on each one. It helps when a business is missing in Tax, when the update dates look wrong, or before you send your first quarterly update of the tax year.
This guide is about HMRC’s record of your businesses, not your bookkeeping. To record income and expenses, use the guide to adding income and expenses. To send figures, use the quarterly update guide.
Who this is for
It is for sole traders and landlords who use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It matters most if you have more than one business, or if HMRC signed you up.
When HMRC signs you up, it uses only the information it already holds, which may be out of date. HMRC asks you to confirm your income sources, add new ones and tell it about any that have stopped. You do that in HMRC online services. SimpleTaxFlow then reads what HMRC holds.
What you need
- HMRC connected to SimpleTaxFlow, with your National Insurance number on your account.
- The date your accounts run to for each self-employment business.
- Whether you use the cash basis or traditional accounting.
- A list of your businesses: each trade you run, and whether you let UK or foreign property.
How HMRC groups your businesses under MTD
You keep one set of digital records for each self-employment business and send a separate quarterly update for each. An electrician who is also a driving instructor has two businesses.
All your UK properties form one UK property business, including your share of any jointly let property. All your foreign properties form one foreign property business. A rental flat is never a business of its own.
The cash basis is HMRC’s default accounting method for self-employment and property income. Quarterly updates follow standard periods unless you choose calendar periods, which suit accounts that end on 31 March. The deadlines are the same for both. You must choose calendar periods before your first update, and you cannot change after you send one for that tax year.
| Standard period | Calendar period | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 6 April to 5 July | 1 April to 30 June | 7 August |
| 6 April to 5 October | 1 April to 30 September | 7 November |
| 6 April to 5 January | 1 April to 31 December | 7 February |
| 6 April to 5 April | 1 April to 31 March | 7 May |
1. Sync the businesses held by HMRC
Open Account, find Your businesses, and refresh the HMRC connection when a business is missing or has recently changed. Each business shows as a tile under HMRC businesses. To refresh, choose Manage on the HMRC card under Providers, then choose Re-sync. Self-employment and property sources remain separate even when they belong to the same taxpayer. In Tax, check each business separately. If HMRC returns no matching updates for one business, updates for the others still load. An empty result does not confirm an exemption or that all updates have been sent.
Open Account2. Review the accounting method
Choose a business tile to open its details. If you have more than one tax year, pick it in Tax year. Under Accounting type, Current shows Cash basis or Accrual basis. To change it, choose Change, pick the basis and choose Save. Use the method agreed for that business and seek professional advice if you are unsure which basis applies.
Review business settings3. Check periods and quarterly cadence
Review the period of account, quarterly period type, and any Late Accounting Date Rule information shown by HMRC. For a self-employment business, Period of account shows the dates HMRC holds. Quarterly cadence shows Standard or Calendar. To switch, choose Change, pick one and choose Save before your first update of the tax year. Late Accounting Date Rule is available only when your accounting period ends between 31 March and 4 April. For UK property these sections show Not applicable. In Tax, View or change update periods opens the same business. These settings determine how SimpleTaxFlow groups obligations and year-end work.
Open Tax4. Keep transactions assigned to the right business
When you have more than one business, select the appropriate business while recording or importing transactions. In Bookkeeping, Single Income / Expense has a Business field, and rental records also have a Property field. Tax totals are built business by business, so this choice matters.
Review record keepingA worked example
Jordan (fictional) is an electrician who also lets a flat. Jordan’s accounts for the electrical work run to 31 March, so before the first update of the year Jordan opens the electrical business, chooses Change under Quarterly cadence and picks Calendar. The flat stays on standard periods.
Tax then lists the two businesses separately, each with its own Q1 to Q4 rows and HMRC’s dates. Jordan sends a quarterly update for each and submits one tax return for the year.
- Electrical work turnover
- £40,000
- Electrical work expenses
- £10,000
- Electrical work profit
- £30,000
- Flat rent
- £12,000
- Flat expenses
- £3,000
- Flat profit
- £9,000
Qualifying income is turnover before expenses, so Jordan’s is £52,000 from both businesses together.
Common mistakes
- Recording rental income under the self-employment business, or the other way round.
- Treating each rental property as a separate business. They are all one UK property business.
- Trying to change the quarterly cadence after sending an update for that tax year.
- Reading an empty list of updates as proof that you do not need Making Tax Digital.
How to check it worked
Open Account and count the tiles under HMRC businesses. Each business you expect should be there once. Open each one and check that Accounting type and Quarterly cadence show what you chose. Choose Refresh from HMRC at the bottom to reload what HMRC holds.
Then open Tax. Each business should appear once, with Q1 to Q4 rows and HMRC’s own dates. If anything still looks wrong, sort it out before you send an update.
Before you move on
- Every expected HMRC business is visible
- Accounting method and reporting periods have been checked
- Transactions are assigned to the correct business
- Unexpected HMRC details are resolved before submission
Frequently asked questions
What if one of my businesses is missing?
Choose Re-sync in your HMRC connection and check again. If it is still missing, HMRC does not hold it. Add the income source in HMRC online services, then sync again.
Do I need a separate business for each rental property?
No. All your UK properties form one UK property business under Making Tax Digital, including your share of jointly let property. Foreign properties form one foreign property business.
Can I switch to calendar update periods?
Calendar update periods suit accounts that end on 31 March. You must choose them before you send your first quarterly update of the tax year. You cannot change your update periods for the rest of that tax year after you send one.
Do changes here update HMRC’s records?
Yes. Changes to Accounting type, Period of account, Quarterly cadence and the Late Accounting Date Rule are sent to HMRC for the tax year you selected. Check the business again after saving.
Check the official rules
Tax rules can change and individual circumstances matter. Use HMRC’s current guidance to confirm the treatment that applies to you.
Put the guide into practice.
Open the relevant workspace and complete the next step with this guide available in another tab.