Reviewed: 14 September 2026 | Applies to: UK landlords within the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax scope. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is already mandatory for some landlords. This UK tax guide explains the current HMRC start dates, qualifying-income test, records, software, quarterly updates and year-end tax-return process. Tax applies across the UK; this is not an England-only housing-law guide. It is general information, not personal tax, legal or accounting advice.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, often shortened to MTD for Income Tax, changes how a landlord in scope records property income and expenses and reports them to HMRC. It does not turn four quarterly updates into four tax bills. The updates are summaries from digital records. The annual Income Tax deadline remains 31 January after the end of the tax year.
Who must use MTD for Income Tax, and when?
HMRC says a landlord must use MTD for Income Tax when all of these apply: they are an individual registered for Self Assessment, they receive property income or self-employment income (or both), and their qualifying income is more than the threshold for the relevant tax year. The start date depends on the income reported for the earlier tax year:
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| Qualifying income reported for | Threshold | MTD for Income Tax starts |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 to 2025 | More than £50,000 | 6 April 2026 |
| 2025 to 2026 | More than £30,000 | 6 April 2027 |
| 2026 to 2027 | More than £20,000 | 6 April 2028 |
Do not use the old £10,000 figure sometimes found in historic MTD material. HMRC’s current timetable and eligibility guidance use the phased thresholds above.
Qualifying income is not taxable profit. It is the total income from self-employment and property before expenses, also described by HMRC as turnover. Property and self-employment income are combined for this test. A share of profit from a partnership as an individual partner does not count towards qualifying income, although a person’s own property or self-employment income can. HMRC gives specific rules for joint property, ceased sources, foreign property and other circumstances. Check the current qualifying-income guidance or ask a tax adviser to assess an individual position.
Partnerships do not currently need to use MTD for Income Tax. HMRC says it will set out their future timetable later. A landlord should not assume that a partnership rule applies to an individual landlord, or that an individual landlord is outside MTD because they also have partnership income.
Digital records and software: the working file
A landlord in scope needs compatible software to create digital records, send quarterly updates and submit the annual tax return. HMRC’s current records guidance says each record needs the amount, the date income was received or an expense incurred, and the relevant category. A bank feed can help with bookkeeping, but the landlord remains responsible for checking that records and categories are accurate before an update is sent.
For UK property income, one or more UK properties are generally treated as one UK property business for this purpose. The software can combine the records into one property update. That does not remove the need to retain clear source records or to identify the landlord’s own share of jointly let property. Foreign property has separate record-keeping rules, so an owner with overseas lets should check HMRC guidance or obtain tax advice.
Using more than one product is possible, but the record-keeping and submission products must be digitally linked. HMRC gives examples including linked spreadsheet cells, imports and automated transfers. Manual copying or pasting after a record has been sent is not a substitute for a digital link. A spreadsheet user should confirm with the software provider or an accountant that the chosen bridging or submission route meets the current requirements before relying on it.
Quarterly updates: what is sent and when
Compatible software adds the digital records into category totals for property income and expenses. The quarterly update is a summary, not a tax return, and HMRC does not receive each individual receipt or invoice through it. No accounting or tax adjustment is required before a quarterly update. If there was no income or expense in an update period, an update is still required.
For standard update periods, the reporting dates are 6 April to 5 July, 6 April to 5 October, 6 April to 5 January and 6 April to 5 April. The corresponding submission deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Calendar update periods are also available for qualifying accounting periods, but the deadlines remain the same. The current HMRC quarterly-update guidance explains which periods apply and how corrections work.
For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates. That is not a waiver of the record-keeping or updating requirement: all required quarterly updates must be sent before the annual tax return can be submitted, and late tax-return penalties still apply. The penalty rules change over time, so use HMRC’s current guidance rather than treating a first-year arrangement as permanent.
The year-end process: adjustments, return and payment date
The fourth quarterly update is not the end of the job. After the year has ended, check the records, correct errors and make any necessary adjustments in the software. Depending on the facts, this can include items that cannot sensibly be finalised in a quarterly update, information relating to jointly let property, or relief and allowance claims. This is where individual facts matter, so an accountant or tax adviser is the right person to ask about an adjustment or claim.
Then complete the MTD Income Tax return in compatible software. Check that property information and any other taxable income or gains that must be reported are complete, review the calculation, and submit the return by 31 January following the end of the tax year. HMRC uses that information to produce the Self Assessment tax bill. MTD does not change how Income Tax is paid or the usual 31 January payment date.
In the first year after starting MTD, the Self Assessment return for the previous tax year is still completed in the usual way because there were no MTD quarterly updates for that earlier year. For later tax years, the return is completed and submitted through compatible software. HMRC’s current tax-return guidance sets out the annual process and correction rules.
What a landlord should do now
- Check the start date: use the qualifying income reported for the relevant earlier tax year, not a profit figure or a guessed rental threshold.
- Identify every relevant source: list UK property income, foreign property income if applicable, and any self-employment income that must be considered for the threshold.
- Choose and test software: decide whether the landlord, agent or accountant will keep records and send updates. Confirm authorisations, digital links and the treatment of joint-property records before the first deadline.
- Clean the opening records: set up income and expense categories, retain source documents, and agree a routine for checking bank-feed items and unusual transactions.
- Put all four dates in the diary: leave time to review the software summary and resolve missing records before each deadline.
- Plan the year-end review: keep the quarterly process separate from the annual return, adjustments and payment planning.
- Ask for tailored advice early: seek a tax adviser or accountant where ownership, joint income, overseas property, a partnership, a relief, an allowance, a ceased source or another non-standard fact could affect the position.
How this guide fits with other Landlord Knowledge content
This guide covers the operational UK tax-compliance task of MTD eligibility, records, updates and annual filing. It does not give Section 24, incorporation, SDLT, Capital Gains Tax or investment-return advice. Those wider investment decisions are covered separately in Landlord Knowledge’s buy-to-let investment guide. The broader landlord resource page has links to other landlord tasks. For wider landlord compliance context, see the Landlord Regulation Guide.
Official sources and review note
Before acting or publishing, check HMRC’s current guidance on digital records, its exemption rules, and the current start-date and qualifying-income guidance linked above. The confirmed £20,000 phase has a 6 April 2028 operative date in the government’s 2028 tax information and impact note.
