How to change your accounting period for Making Tax Digital
Most businesses report to HMRC on the standard UK tax year — 6 April to 5 April. But if one of your linked businesses operates on a different accounting period (for example, if you're transitioning between periods), you can set a custom date range in Taxd.
Before you start
Custom accounting periods are set per business, so if you have more than one linked business (for example, a UK Property business and a limited company), you'll need to update each one separately.
Step-by-step: changing your accounting period
- Go to Income Tax – MTD, then select the settings icon at the top right of the page.
- Under Your Linked Businesses, find the business you want to update and select its manage/settings button.
- Choose the Tax Year that contains the period you want to check or change, then select Next.
- Make sure you pick the tax year that matches the period you're actually trying to view — selecting the wrong one can trigger a "Request validation failed" message. If you see this, go back and double-check the tax year selected matches the period you want.
- You'll see your current Accounting Period (start and end date) and the date it was submitted. Select Edit Period.
- Make sure "Enable custom accounting period" is ticked, then enter your new Start Date and End Date.
- Select Save Changes.
Troubleshooting
I saved my new dates but the accounting period still shows the old ones. Go back into the business's settings and check the accounting period again. If it still shows your previous dates after saving, contact us via live chat — don't assume the change has gone through, and don't submit a quarterly update until the correct period is confirmed on your dashboard.
I got a "Request validation failed" message. This usually means the tax year you selected in step 3 doesn't match up with the period you're trying to view or edit. Go back and reselect the correct tax year, then try again.
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- How to connect your Taxd account to HMRC for Making Tax Digital
- Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax
- MTD Penalties Explained: The Points-Based System