Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: How to Get Old Bank Statements Into MTD Software

Who has to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?

You need to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax if you’re a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment, you get self-employment or property income (or both), and your qualifying income is over the threshold. Qualifying income is your gross income from self-employment and property, before expenses (GOV.UK: Check if you’re eligible).

Partnerships will join later, on a timeline HMRC hasn’t set yet. Some people are exempt (for example because of digital exclusion) and keep filing a normal Self Assessment return.

Why you may need earlier months in your software

Under MTD you keep digital records of income and expenses and send a quarterly update. HMRC’s guidance says each quarterly update covers from the start of the tax year to the end of the update period, not just the last three months (GOV.UK: Send quarterly updates).

So the software needs the whole tax year’s transactions, even if you only started using it in, say, September. That’s the common situation this guide is for:

• you joined MTD, or switched software, after the tax year had started;
• your bank feed only connected recently and didn’t bring in older months;
• you’ve kept records in a spreadsheet or on paper statements until now.

Quarterly update deadlines

Update periods follow the tax year (6 April to 5 April) or, if you choose, calendar quarters (1 April to 31 March). Either way the deadlines are the same:

• 7 August
• 7 November
• 7 February
• 7 May

There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. After that, each missed deadline earns a penalty point, and reaching 4 points brings a £200 penalty, with another £200 for each later missed deadline (GOV.UK: Penalties for MTD for Income Tax).

Choosing MTD-compatible software

HMRC doesn’t recommend any product. It points to its own software finder to check whether a product is recognised for MTD for Income Tax (GOV.UK: Find compatible software). Many sole traders and landlords use bookkeeping apps such as Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent; check the finder for the edition you use. All of them can import bank statement files, which is what the rest of this guide relies on.

Step 1: Download the missing months from your bank

1. Work out the gap: from 6 April (or 1 April for calendar quarters) to the first transaction already in your software.
2. In online banking, download that period. Pick OFX if your bank offers it; otherwise CSV or Excel.
3. Download each account separately: business current account, savings, and any credit card you use for the business.
4. If online banking no longer shows that far back, ask for PDF statements and use the PDF route in step 2.

Step 2: Get the file into the format your software imports

Each app wants a specific layout, and a bank’s CSV rarely matches it exactly. Convert it in your browser first; nothing is uploaded:

UK exports use day-first dates. In the converter’s preview, check a date after the 12th and the totals against your statement before you download.

Step 3: Import, then avoid duplicates

1. Import the file into the right bank account in your software (guides: Xero, QuickBooks Online).
2. Make sure the imported period ends the day before your bank feed starts. If the two overlap, you’ll get duplicates: see how to fix duplicate bank transactions.
3. Categorise or explain each transaction as income or an expense, the same way as feed transactions.
4. Reconcile the account so the software balance matches your statement at the end of each month.

Once the tax year so far is in, your quarterly update reflects your real income and expenses from 6 April.

Frequently asked questions