If you’re in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, your second quarterly update of the 2026/27 tax year is due by 7 November. It covers your income and expenses up to 30 September, and you can send it from Pulse in a few minutes.
Here’s how, step by step. It works the same way whatever your business, whether you run Slimming World groups, clean houses or cut hair.
Who needs to send an update?
You’ve been in MTD since 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income on your 2024/25 tax return was over £50,000. Qualifying income is your self-employed turnover plus any rental income, before expenses. Some members have also joined voluntarily.
If you’re not in MTD yet, there’s nothing to send this time. If your qualifying income on your 2025/26 tax return is over £30,000, you’ll join from April 2027, so it’s worth reading on to see what’s coming.
7 November, not 1 November
Our October newsletter said your July to September update was due by 1 November. That’s the day Auto MTD sends updates for members who’ve switched it on. HMRC’s deadline is 7 November, so if you’re sending it yourself, you have until then.
We’d still say don’t leave it to the last day. It’s much easier to sort out a missing receipt on the 2nd than on the 7th.
Before you start: get your records up to date
Your update is built from what’s in Pulse, so a quick tidy first makes everything else easy. Check that you’ve added:
- all your income up to 30 September, including cash and card payments and any invoices that have been paid
- your expenses, with receipts scanned or uploaded where you have them
- your mileage for July, August and September
- any recurring expenses Pulse has asked you to confirm, like a phone contract or hall hire
Spotted something from April to June that you missed? Just add it now. There’s no need to resend your first update, and the next section explains why.
Step 1: Open your MTD screen
Log in to Pulse and open your MTD dashboard. You’ll see a card for each quarter of the tax year.
The colour tells you where each quarter is up to:
- Grey: not open yet, as the quarter hasn’t finished
- Green: open and ready to send
- Red: overdue, but you can still send it
- Blue: submitted, and HMRC has it
Right now, Q2 should be green. If you have more than one business, each one has its own tab, and a green dot on the tab shows there’s an update ready to send. Each business is sent separately, so check every tab.
Step 2: Check your figures
Click the green Q2 card. Pulse shows you the figures it’s about to send, taken straight from your records.
You’ll notice the figures run from 1 April, not 1 July. That’s how MTD works. Each update is a running total for the tax year so far, and it replaces the one before. In the example, the income of £10,802.40 is everything from April to September, not just the last three months.
That’s good news if you’ve added something late. A missed expense from May simply goes into this update, and HMRC gets the right total.
If anything looks wrong, close the popup, fix it in your records, then open the card again.
Step 3: Tick the box and submit
When you’re happy, tick the box to confirm the figures are correct and press Submit to HMRC.
Once HMRC accepts it, you’ll see a receipt with an HMRC reference, and the card turns blue. The reference is saved on the card, so you can click it any time to see exactly what was sent. That’s it until February.
First time sending from Pulse?
There are two things to do once before your first update. First, connect Pulse to HMRC from your HMRC Settings page, signing in with your Government Gateway login. Then match each business in Pulse to the business HMRC holds for you, and press Save.
Check your choices carefully before saving. Once a business is linked, only our team can change it, which keeps your updates going to the right place.
If you’re VAT registered or your income is £90,000 or more, Pulse can’t send your updates for you just yet. Get in touch and our team will help.
Using Auto MTD?
If you’ve switched on Auto MTD, Pulse sends this update for you on 1 November. We’ll have emailed you your figures during October, and you’ll get a confirmation once it’s gone. Anything you add before then is included automatically.
Thinking of switching it on? Auto MTD is paused for new sign-ups between 22 October and 7 November, so nobody has an update sent without seeing their figures first. Send this one yourself, then switch on from 8 November and Pulse will handle your February update. Read how Auto MTD works.
What if I miss 7 November?
Don’t panic. HMRC has said there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026/27 tax year. You do still need to send all four updates before you can do your tax return, so send it as soon as you can. The card will show red until you do.
From April 2027, late updates start to count. Each missed deadline gets a penalty point, and a £200 penalty comes once you reach four points. So it’s a good habit to get into now.
Your next dates
- 7 February 2027: October to December update
- 7 May 2027: January to March update
- 31 January 2028: your 2026/27 tax return
For more detail, including what the messages in Pulse mean, see our guide to sending your MTD updates.
Not with MalgraBooks yet?
Pulse is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital and works for most sole traders, not just Slimming World consultants. Find your trade to see how it works for you, or view our packages.
Any questions about your update, just get in touch through our contact form and we’ll help.
