The clock is now down to the final hours: the first-ever Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax quarterly update is due before midnight on Friday 7 August, and for many sole traders, self employed and landlords, this is uncharted territory.

The anxiety around this is normal, but the task itself is simpler than you may think. MTD isn’t a tax return, there’s no payment attached, and HMRC will not charge penalties for year one for exactly this reason: nobody expects the first round to be perfect.

To make the run-up a little less daunting, here are the seven things you need to know about MTD to help you with the final push to register and make first quarterly update before the deadline.