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MTD for IT: Managing multiple businesses in QuickBooks

by Intuit• Updated 2 weeks ago

If you run more than one business—for example, you are a plumber but also run an online shop—HMRC requires you to follow specific rules under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for IT).

While you may think of these as separate entities, HMRC views them as part of your total personal income. This article explains how to stay compliant when managing multiple income streams through QuickBooks.

Note: For a broader overview of the HMRC mandate, eligibility thresholds, and how these changes affect your business, visit our Making Tax Digital hub page.

How the Qualifying Income threshold works for multiple trades

HMRC determines if you must join MTD for IT based all the business income sources attached to your National Insurance (NI) number. They add together the "gross qualifying income" (total turnover before expenses) from all your sole trader businesses and any rental properties.

  • Example: If Business A earns £30,000 and Business B earns £25,000 in the tax year 2024/25, your combined income is £55,000.
  • The result: Even though neither business is over the £50,000 qualifying income threshold for 2026/27 individually, you are mandated to use MTD IT for both because the total exceeds the threshold.

Managing multiple income sources

Before you start, make sure you have registered for Self Assessment with HMRC and signed up for MTD for IT. If you haven't done this yet, follow our Set up Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in QuickBooks guide first.

To ensure your income tax updates are accurate, you need to tell HMRC about both parts of your income. You will need a separate QuickBooks account for each business source.

Having two QuickBooks accounts will keep your records for each business distinct, so you can see how each business is performing. 

Even though your income and expense management is done in separate QuickBooks accounts, your quarterly updates from each business source can be submitted all at once. 

When you sign up for MTD for IT via your HMRC Government Gateway account, you must tell HMRC about each active business you run.

  • You will need to provide the business name, address, start date, and the nature of the trade for every separate income source.
  • Once registered, QuickBooks will link these sources to your dashboard using your digital authorisation.

Important: You can only link one business income source to each QuickBooks account. If you run more than one business you will need more than one QuickBooks account.

A common misconception is that you send one combined update. In reality, HMRC requires separate quarterly updates for each business.

  1. In the Income Tax centre in QuickBooks, you will see a list of your registered businesses. 
  2. You will submit a summary of income and expenses for Business A, and then a separate summary for Business B. QuickBooks allows you to submit all your updates from one QuickBooks account.

Deadlines: All updates are usually due at the same time (e.g., 7 August for the first quarter), making it easier to manage your schedule.


Things to know

  • Shared expenses: If you have an expense that applies to both businesses (like a shared home office or mobile phone), you must split the cost digitally between your two QuickBooks accounts.
  • Annual tax return: While updates are separate, you only submit one Final Declaration at the end of the year. This pulls together the data from all your businesses to calculate your final tax bill.
  • National Insurance: Class 4 NI contributions will be calculated based on the combined profits of all your trades during the Final Declaration stage.

Ready to get MTD-ready?

QuickBooks is designed to manage multiple trades under multiple QuickBooks accounts. Stay on top of your distinct income streams with AI-powered categorisation and real-time tax estimates for your whole portfolio. Explore plans and pricing


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