MTD Q1 2026: what the surveys found about chasing client records

Updated 21 October 2026.

After the first quarterly deadline on 7 August 2026, getting records from clients was the obstacle named most often. The Accountants Therapy survey names it ahead of general digital record keeping, and the Dext poll names chasing client records ahead of HMRC registration.

Accountants Therapy survey

ICAEW reported the Accountants Therapy survey. Published 27 August 2026.

ICAEW listed getting information from clients, practice capacity, and general digital record keeping as the biggest obstacles.

• Accountants Therapy had 142 respondents. ICAEW, 27 August 2026
• 67% cited getting information from clients. ICAEW, 27 August 2026
• 46% cited practice capacity. ICAEW, 27 August 2026
• 29% cited general digital record keeping. ICAEW, 27 August 2026

Dext poll

Merchants Eye reported the Dext poll. Published 14 August 2026.

• 65% of accountants and bookkeepers could not submit at least one client's quarterly update on time. Merchants Eye, 14 August 2026
• 33% identified chasing client records as the single biggest challenge. Merchants Eye, 14 August 2026
• 9% of professionals cited HMRC registration as their main difficulty. Merchants Eye, 14 August 2026
• 60% of Q1 submissions occurred in August. Merchants Eye, 14 August 2026

Time spent chasing and filing

This AccountingWEB study measures time spent on MTD for Income Tax. Published 30 September 2026.

• The most common answer for time spent communicating with clients and chasing information was 30 to 60 minutes per client. AccountingWEB, 30 September 2026
• The most popular response for preparing and filing the quarterly update was 15 to 30 minutes per client. AccountingWEB, 30 September 2026

Sodium document requests

AccountingWEB reported document request counts from Sodium. Published 6 October 2026.

• Sodium's request feature generated 1,940 document requests. AccountingWEB, 6 October 2026
• 520 of the requests received a response. AccountingWEB, 6 October 2026
• 405 documents were retrieved. AccountingWEB, 6 October 2026
• 905 requests remained open for over 30 days. AccountingWEB, 6 October 2026
• 140 requests remained open past 90 days. AccountingWEB, 6 October 2026

What practices were advised to do next

AccountingWEB reported advice for practices after the first quarterly update. Published 13 October 2026.

• Set an internal deadline before HMRC's filing deadline, so there is time to collect records, complete the bookkeeping, and review. Use one process you can repeat each quarter. AccountingWEB, 13 October 2026

What this means for Q2

The next deadline is the Q2 update, due on Saturday 7 November 2026. Standard update periods for that update cover 6 April 2026 to 5 October 2026. Calendar update periods cover 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026. The other deadlines are in the MTD quarterly deadlines guide. Check a client's dates in the free MTD deadline calculator.

How these figures were collected

We collected published survey results; we didn't run these surveys. Samples and questions differ, so the percentages aren't directly comparable.

Not tax advice; check current GOV.UK guidance.

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