Making Tax Digital for income tax – landlords

We certainly can help with your questions as a landlord looking into what MTD for income tax means for you. TaxAssist Accountants have a lot of experience helping landlords with their tax and accounts and our trusted local accountants are currently helping lots of clients in the transition to MTD for income tax.  We work with our software partners QuickBooks, Xero, Dext and Hammock to find the right digital bookkeeping solution for you and your property business.  

If I only have one property and my property income at this stage is less than £20,000, does MTD for income tax apply to me? 

You will not need to join MTD for income tax for the 2026/27 tax year if: 

• your property income was less than £20,000 in your 2024/25 tax return, and  
• you do not have any other self-employed income.  

If your property income is over £30,000 in your 2025/26 tax return, you will need to join MTD for income tax for the 2027/28 tax year and if your property income is over £20,000 in your 2026/27 tax return, you will need to join MTD for income tax in the 2028/29 tax year.  

What happens if I am employed by a company with a salary and I am also a landlord with one property? 

Your employment income from your salaried job does not count towards ‘qualifying income’ for MTD for income tax. You will only need to register for MTD for income for the 2026/27 tax year if your property income from your one property was more than £50,000 in the 2024/25 tax year. Speak to an accountant about checking your qualifying income as reported in your self-assessment each tax year to check if you need to register for MTD for income tax for future years.  

The thresholds will be £30,000 for the 2027/28 tax year and £20,000 for the 2028/29 tax year as reported in your tax return two tax years prior to this.  

As a landlord, with only one property in the UK, is it really necessary to invest in any software – can I just submit the necessary files to HMRC without any software? 

If you are required to join MTD for income tax – currently if you have £50,000 or more annual property and/or self-employed annual income – then you will need MTD-compliant software. This can either be a digital bookkeeping and accounting software solution such as QuickBooks,  Xero or Hammock, or if you wish to continue using spreadsheets or similar records you have developed in-house, bridging software is available. Under the MTD for income tax rules you must file quarterly updates and an end of year tax return directly from your chosen software. There is no paper alternative and you cannot choose to keep filing a self-assessment tax return from the HMRC online portal instead.  

If you meet the conditions for an exemption from MTD for income tax – generally due to religious, disability or other reasons which mean you are unable to use a computer – then you must apply for an exemption from HMRC or you will receive an automatic penalty when you do not file your first quarterly update by 7th August.  

If your qualifying income is less than £50,000 you will not need to join MTD for income tax for the 2026/27 tax year but may need to join in future years as the threshold reduces.  

My wife and I jointly own our holiday let – does this mean we both need to submit MTD updates each quarter?  

Qualifying income for MTD for income tax is based on the individual so you and your wife will only need to register for MTD for income tax if one or both of you had £50,000 of rental and/or self-employment income in your 2024/25 tax year. 

I share a property business with one other person but there is only one business bank account for our business. How is this handled in MTD for income tax? 

You will both be required to register for MTD for income tax if you have £50,000 or more property income and/or self-employment income per year.  As joint owners of a property or properties you will only be required to report in your quarterly updates your share of either: 

• the income and expenses associated with the property, or 
• the income only, with your share of the expenses only reported in the end of year tax return. 

Speak to your accountant about whether you could both pull through the business bank account feed into your MTD-compliant software, as this will depend on the software packages you and your co-owner have. 

Please note that if your business is structured as a partnership or limited company, neither of these business structures fall within the MTD for income tax regime. 

First published 29 Jun 2026

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This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.

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