How MTDFox works

Your email address, and for each property or trade a name you recognise. Nothing else is required on day one. Your National Insurance number is asked for only when you connect HMRC, and you can add that later.

HMRC treats each business separately. One rental property is one source; a second property is a second. A trade (consulting, a van, an online shop) is another. Add each one from the dashboard.

You have seven days to look around first. After that a code from an authenticator app is needed at sign-in, and it is always needed before the app will connect to HMRC or a bank. Tick "remember this device" and your own browser will not ask again for 30 days.

MTDFox records on the cash basis: income when it arrives, expenses when they are paid. That is HMRC's default for landlords and sole traders under the turnover limit. If your accountant prepares accruals accounts, tell them the records are cash basis.

Type them on the Transactions page, import a CSV from your online banking, or connect a bank feed. Every transaction needs a date, a description, a category and an amount. Attach a photo of the receipt if you have one.

Any export with a date, a description and an amount. The import page reads the header row, works out which column is which, and asks you to confirm before anything is saved. Rows you have already imported are skipped.

Yes. Open it from the Transactions page, change what you need and save. Every change is kept in your activity log. If the change falls in a quarter you have already sent to HMRC, the Quarters page tells you to resubmit.

For a residential let, "Mortgage interest". MTDFox reports it to HMRC as a finance cost and applies the 20% tax credit (Section 24). For a commercial property loan use "Loan interest (commercial)", which is fully deductible.

Log each business trip on the Mileage page. MTDFox values it at HMRC's flat rates (45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles in the year, then 25p) and adds it to your quarterly travel figure. Don't also enter fuel or repairs for that vehicle.

Yes. On the Recurring page add the rent with its day of the month. Choose "create it automatically" and the transaction appears each month, or "expect it" and the dashboard warns you when a month's rent hasn't been recorded three days after it was due.

Yes. The Invoices page builds an invoice with your name and address from the Billing page, emails the client a link and a PDF, and records the income when you mark it paid.

Set your share on the property. Every figure sent to HMRC and every estimate uses your share only. Enter the full amounts on each transaction.

7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, one month after each quarter ends. Each update carries the year to date, so a correction goes in the next update rather than a resubmission of an old one.

In the first year of Making Tax Digital (2026 to 2027) HMRC has said it will not give penalty points for late quarterly updates. From April 2027 a late update is one point, and four points is a £200 penalty. The year-end declaration has no grace period.

Fix the transaction and send the quarter again. HMRC replaces the figures it holds with the new ones. The Quarters page shows a "resubmit" prompt whenever records change after a send.

The Quarters page lists every submission with the time it was accepted and HMRC's reference. You also receive a confirmation email.

Go to HMRC, press Connect, and sign in at Government Gateway. HMRC asks you to allow MTDFox to see your Self Assessment record and send updates. Then enter your National Insurance number and link each HMRC business to a property or trade in MTDFox.

Recognition is in progress and the status is shown on the HMRC page. Until then everything is stored in HMRC's format, so nothing needs re-entering.

HMRC requires every piece of software to send device and connection details with each submission, to detect fraud. What is sent is listed in the privacy policy. It is used for nothing else.

During the beta, yes: no card is needed and no limits are enforced. We email you at least 30 days before billing starts, and you are never charged unless you pick a paid plan.

From the Billing page, in one click. Your plan stays active to the end of the period you have paid for, and your records stay yours.

Both are on the Settings page. A change of email is confirmed from the new address before it takes effect.

Settings has a CSV export and an account deletion button. HMRC expects you to keep your own records for five years after the filing deadline, so export before you delete.

Email support from the address on the account. We verify you with details only the account holder would know, then reset the second factor. Allow one working day.