Recording income and expenses

Transactions are the digital records everything you send to HMRC is built from. You add each item against a property or a self-employment business, and the only details you must give are the date, the amount and an HMRC category. Description and receipt are always optional.

What this is

A transaction is a single income or expense item recorded against one property or one self-employment business. These records are the foundation of Making Tax Digital in the app: your quarterly updates, annual figures and Final Declaration are all built automatically from the transactions you enter, so there is nothing to total up by hand.

Every category you pick maps to the matching HMRC field, so your figures land in the correct box without any extra step from you.

Important: There is no separate "totals only" entry. The app does not keep your records in a spreadsheet and send HMRC just the sums. If you already keep figures in a spreadsheet or get a bank export, bring each row in with Import transactions from CSV, which lands every line as a real transaction in the app. See Keep your own records for how this fits together.

Before you start

• You need to be signed in.
• For a property transaction you must have added at least one property and be its active owner. If you have none, the page shows an empty state with an Add Your First Property button. See Add your first property.
• For a self-employment transaction you must have a self-employment business set up. If you have none, the page shows Add a business first with a link to Self-employment.
• Recording income and expenses is available on Free and MTD Lite, for both property and self-employment. On the Free plan you can run one income type (property or self-employment); running both in one account needs MTD Lite.

Add a transaction step by step

1. Open Transactions from the sidebar (or Self-employment transactions for a self-employment business). If you have both income types, use the Add Transaction dropdown and choose Property Transaction or SE Transaction.
2. Click the Add Transaction button to open the Add a transaction page.
3. Pick the property or business. If you have only one it is selected for you; with more than one, choose the right chip.
4. Choose money in or money out with the In / Out toggle. This filters the category list to income or expense categories. Choose this first so the right categories appear.
5. Enter the amount (it must be more than zero) and pick the date.
6. Pick the HMRC category from the field labelled HMRC category, for example Rental Income or Repairs & Maintenance for property, or Turnover or Cost of Goods for self-employment. See Transaction categories for the full list.
7. Optional: type a Description and/or drop in a receipt image or PDF. Both can stay blank. See Do I have to scan receipts?.
8. Click Save transaction.

Tip: Choosing In or Out before you open the HMRC category picker saves time, because the picker only shows the categories that fit.

Self-employment extras

When you record a self-employment expense, you can flag the part of the cost that is not tax-deductible (for example the private-use portion of a vehicle). Switch on the Partly personal use option (the disallowable, non-deductible amount) and enter that amount: it cannot be more than the total. Leave it off for fully allowable costs. What counts as disallowable is a tax matter, so check with HMRC or your accountant if you are unsure.

Recurring property transactions

For regular property items like monthly rent, you can create a repeating series in one go (this is property only):

1. On the property Add a transaction page, set the amount, date and category as usual.
2. Open the repeat panel and switch it on.
3. Choose how often it repeats and how many to create (up to 60).
4. Save. The button shows the count, for example Save 12 transactions.

Note: You cannot attach a receipt to a recurring series. If you need a receipt on an item, save that one on its own rather than as a series.

Editing and deleting

You can open any transaction from Transactions or Self-employment transactions and change its date, amount, description, category, or the capital flag (property) and disallowable flag (self-employment).

Editing is not blocked once a period has been submitted to HMRC. Deleting a transaction that falls in a period you have already submitted shows a warning so you can think twice, and for self-employment, deleting several at once is blocked for quarters already sent. Deletes are soft, so records are retained rather than wiped. For corrections after a submission, use the amendment flow described in The cumulative model and corrections.

If something goes wrong

• "Add a property first" with no form. You have no property where you are the active owner. Add one via Add Your First Property, then return to the add page.
• "Add a business first" on the self-employment form. You have no self-employment business yet. Go to Self-employment and create one first.
• The Self-employment transactions pages are missing. You do not have a self-employment business yet. Go to Self-employment and create one first. Running both property and self-employment together needs MTD Lite.
• "Missing required fields." One of the required details (property or business, date, amount, category) was empty. Fill those four in. Description and receipt can stay blank.
• "Invalid amount." or "Please enter an amount." Enter a positive number greater than zero.
• "Invalid category selected." The category does not match the income type, for example a self-employment category on a property form. Pick a category from the in-app picker for the correct income type.
• A read-only or plan message when saving. You are over your plan's property limit, so the account is read-only. Reduce properties to within your limit or upgrade to MTD Lite. See Plans and pricing.
• "Looks like a duplicate." Another transaction exists for the same property, with the same amount, within 7 days. Choose Save anyway to keep it, or Open existing to review the original.
• "Disallowable amount cannot exceed the total." Lower the disallowable amount so it is no more than the total, or switch the Partly personal use option off.
• You cannot delete a co-owner's transaction. Only the primary property owner can delete transactions created by others. Co-owners can delete their own. Ask the primary owner to remove it.

Frequently asked questions

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