MTD - Setting Up Your HMRC Connection

MTD - Setting Up Your HMRC Connection

PLEASE DO NOT SET UP A CONNECTION TO HMRC FOR MTD UNTIL YOUR GO LIVE TAX YEAR START DATE UNLESS YOU ARE PART OF THE MTD TRIAL


Here we’ll show you how to get started with MTD for Income tax by connecting your ApariPro account to HMRC.

Before You Begin

Important: You must register directly with HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax before following these steps. Registration with HMRC is not automatic, and you cannot proceed without completing this first.

This guide is for:

  • Self-employed individuals (sole traders)

  • Landlords with property income

  • Individuals with both self-employment and property income

Step 1: Access Your Connection Settings

  1. Navigate to Profile & Settings from your ApariPro dashboard

  2. Select Connections

  3. Choose Third Party Accounts

Step 2: Connect to HMRC

  1. Locate the HMRC connection option and select the 3 dots menu

  2. Click Connect

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions from HMRC to authorize the connection

  4. Once complete, your account will display as Connected

Step 3: Check Your MTD Status

  1. Select the back arrow to return to the connections screen

  2. Click Check MTD

  3. Wait a few seconds for the system to verify your connection

  4. Select the Refresh button

Confirming Successful Connection

Once your connection is successfully established, you'll see several indicators:

  • The sidebar will turn green on your main dashboard (visible in the estimated tax liability overview)

  • Your connection status will show as Connected in the Connections area

  • The Tax Submission section will display the green connection indicator

Automatic Business Import

If you haven't already added your self-employed or landlord businesses to ApariPro, these will now be automatically created for you based on information held by HMRC. This includes:

  • Your business entity name

  • Associated business address

Note: If you operate both as a self-employed individual and as a landlord, both business sources will be imported under your single MTD connection—you only need to connect once.

Step 4: Import Employment Data (If Applicable)

If you are employed in addition to being self-employed or a landlord, you should pull your employment data from HMRC:

  1. Select Pull Data from HMRC in the MTD Tax Submission section

  2. Your year-to-date employment data will be updated automatically

Why this matters:

  • HMRC holds your employment data from the PAYE information your employer submits weekly or monthly

  • This data helps calculate accurate end-of-year tax estimates throughout the year

  • You can easily include this information in your annual submission by pulling the data again when needed

This step is recommended for anyone who is an employee, regardless of whether they also have self-employment or property income.

Understanding the Tax Submission Section

The Tax Submission section is accessible from the left navigation menu. Here you can:

  • View your tax return in detail

  • See income and expenses broken down by source

  • Monitor your quarterly obligations

  • Access your submission status

Next Steps: Quarterly Returns

Now that your connection is complete, you're ready to submit MTD quarterly returns.

Quarterly Return Deadlines: Returns are due one month after each quarter ends:

  • Quarter 1: 6 April - 5 July (due 7 August)

  • Quarter 2: 6 July - 5 October (due 7 November)

  • Quarter 3: 6 October - 5 January (due 7 February)

  • Quarter 4: 6 January - 5 April (due 7 May)

You can submit your returns when you're ready within these timeframes.

Pulling Additional HMRC Data

To retrieve historical totals that HMRC holds on file for your business sources, navigate to the Tax Return area and select the option to pull HMRC data. This will import the financial totals HMRC has recorded for your specific business entities.

Troubleshooting

Connection not showing as successful:

  • Verify you've completed MTD registration with HMRC

  • Try refreshing the connection status again

  • Check that you followed all HMRC authorization steps during the connection process

Businesses not appearing automatically:

  • Ensure HMRC has your business information on record

  • You may need to manually add business details if they're not held by HMRC

Green indicator not showing:

  • Refresh your dashboard

  • Log out and log back in to ApariPro

  • Check your connection status in Profile & Settings > Connections

Watch our quick guide showing you how to set up your HMRC connection


This guide is for individual taxpayers, landlords, and sole traders. If you're a tax agent or accountant managing client MTD connections, please refer to our Agent MTD Setup Guide.

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