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Getting StartedMaking Tax DigitalUpdated February 21, 2026

Never Lose Your HMRC Connection Again — Introducing Token Expiry Warnings

Never Lose Your HMRC Connection Again

Introducing Automatic HMRC Token Expiry Warnings — v1.0.30

One of the quietest but most disruptive problems a landlord using Making Tax Digital can face is discovering — at the worst possible moment — that their HMRC connection has silently expired. A missed quarterly submission window, a scramble to re-authorise, and unnecessary stress.

With v1.0.30, that problem is solved.

What We've Built

We've introduced a daily automated workflow that keeps a close eye on the health of your HMRC connection and alerts you well in advance if action is needed.

Every morning at 09:00, the platform sweeps all active HMRC credentials and checks how close each one is to expiring. Based on that check, it takes the right action automatically:

  • 30 days out — you receive an in-app notification and an email letting you know your connection will expire on a specific date, and what you need to do.
  • 7 days out — the warning escalates. The in-app alert becomes more prominent and the email makes clear that time is running short.
  • Already expired — the credential is immediately marked as expired, so your dashboard always reflects reality, and you're never left wondering why a submission failed.

Why This Matters for MTD

HMRC's Making Tax Digital API uses OAuth 2.0 refresh tokens to maintain your connection. These tokens have a finite lifespan. If one expires and isn't renewed, the platform can no longer communicate with HMRC on your behalf — meaning quarterly submissions stop working until you reconnect.

For landlords juggling multiple properties and busy schedules, it's easy to miss that a reconnection is needed. This workflow removes that risk entirely by surfacing the issue up to a month before it becomes a problem.

What You Need to Do

Nothing changes about your day-to-day use of the platform. If you receive an expiry warning email or see an alert in your dashboard, simply navigate to Settings → HMRC Connection and click Re-authorise with HMRC. The process takes a couple of minutes and your connection will be fully restored.

Under the Hood

For those interested in the technical detail: this is a scheduled workflow (0 9 * * *) that reads hmrcCredentials records with status = 'connected', evaluates the refreshTokenExpiresAt timestamp, and writes to both the notifications and credential records accordingly. It works alongside the existing hmrc-token-refresh workflow as a defensive backstop — if an earlier automated renewal fails, this sweep will still catch and flag the expired credential.

This release is part of our ongoing commitment to making MTD compliance as effortless as possible for UK landlords. Fewer surprises, more confidence, and submissions that go out on time — every quarter.

— The Platform Team