MTD calendar quarters vs standard quarters: which to pick

Making Tax Digital lets you choose how your year is cut into quarters. The default follows the tax year; the alternative follows the calendar months. Most landlords never make the choice consciously, and for most it does not matter. Here is when it does.

The two options

The deadlines do not move. The calendar election gives you five extra days to gather the figures for each quarter and ends each period on a month end, which is how bank statements and letting-agent statements are usually cut.

Choose calendar quarters if

• your letting agent sends monthly statements: the quarter then lines up with three whole statements;
• you run a small business alongside the property and already close your books at month ends;
• you want the fifth of the month out of your life.

Choose standard quarters if

• you do nothing: it is the default, and there is nothing wrong with it;
• your accountant prefers everything on tax-year dates.

How to switch

The election is made in your software before the first update of the tax year and applies to the whole year. You cannot mix the two within a year. Whichever you choose, the final declaration still covers 6 April to 5 April, and your software handles the five-day difference at the edges. MTDFox supports both and shows the dates for the option you are on next to every quarter.