Making Tax Digital for landlords

General information, not tax advice. Not affiliated with HMRC. Every figure below is linked to the gov.uk page it comes from. Check with HMRC or a qualified accountant about your own situation.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax covers property income as well as self-employment. If you let property, here is what is different for you.

Does rent count towards the threshold?

Yes. Qualifying income is your gross self-employment and property income added together, before expenses (gov.uk). Rent from UK and foreign property counts if you were UK tax resident in 2024 to 2025 (gov.uk). If you were not UK resident, only UK property income (and self-employment income declared on your UK return) counts (gov.uk).

The thresholds are over £50,000 (2024 to 2025 income, start 6 April 2026), over £30,000 (2025 to 2026, start 6 April 2027) and over £20,000 (2026 to 2027, start 6 April 2028) (gov.uk). Being employed doesn't change this: PAYE wages don't count towards qualifying income, but your rent still does (gov.uk).

If your rental income covers a period longer or shorter than 12 months, you need to scale it to a full year yourself to work out qualifying income (gov.uk).

Jointly owned property

Only your share counts. HMRC's example is a property earning £50,000, owned equally by two siblings, which gives qualifying income of £25,000 each (gov.uk). If you're only told your share after expenses, HMRC uses that figure (gov.uk).

Joint landlords get some easier options:

• you only keep digital records of your own share (gov.uk)
• you can keep less detailed records, such as a single record for the quarter's rent instead of one for each month (gov.uk)
• you can leave joint property expenses out of your quarterly updates and add them after the year ends by resending the fourth update (gov.uk)
• you don't have to link your records to the other owner's (gov.uk)

Expenses for properties you own outright must still go into your quarterly updates (gov.uk).

One UK property business

All your UK lets are treated as one "UK property business", so you don't need separate records for each property. Your share of joint lets is part of it too (gov.uk). Foreign lets form one foreign property business, but you keep separate records for each foreign property (gov.uk).

What records to keep

You keep digital records of property income, such as rent and lease premiums, and property expenses, such as repairs and maintenance. Each record shows the amount, the date and the category, using the same categories as Self Assessment (gov.uk). If your UK property turnover is under £90,000, you can use simpler categories. Landlords with residential property must still flag any restricted finance costs (gov.uk).

If you've only been told your net income, gov.uk says to ask for the gross figure and record income and expenses separately (gov.uk). Keep your digital records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for the year (gov.uk).

Allowances and Rent-a-Room

If you claimed the property income allowance on your last return, you still keep digital records and include them in your updates. You then claim the allowance when you file (gov.uk). Rent-a-Room income also needs digital records in some cases, for example when you have other UK property income (gov.uk).

Holiday lets

The furnished holiday lettings (FHL) tax regime was abolished on 6 April 2025. From 2025 to 2026, income from short-term holiday and self-catering lets is taxed under the usual residential landlord rules (gov.uk). So holiday let income is treated as ordinary property income. gov.uk doesn't say anything on the MTD pages we checked about holiday lets specifically, so we don't go further here.

Quarterly updates and the return

You send quarterly updates for your property business, plus one for each self-employment if you have any (gov.uk). After the year ends, you file your tax return through software by 31 January (gov.uk). See the full deadlines guide.

Exemptions and opting out

Qualifying income of £20,000 or less is an automatic exemption (gov.uk). If your income stays below the relevant threshold for 3 tax years in a row after you start, you can choose to opt out (gov.uk). If you sell your only property and have no other self-employment or property income, tell HMRC. Otherwise it may sign you up based on its records (gov.uk).

Next steps

Use the checker, read who needs MTD, and look at software options.

More guides

• Who needs MTD and when
• Quarterly deadlines
• MTD software

Sources

• Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Create digital records, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/create-digital-records (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Send quarterly updates, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/send-quarterly-updates (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Submit your tax return, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax/submit-your-tax-return (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Letting out a self-catering holiday home in England: rules and regulations, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/letting-out-a-self-catering-holiday-home-in-england-rules-and-regulations (checked 5 Nov 2026)

Last checked against gov.uk: 5 November 2026.

Related: £30k from April 2027 · £20k from April 2028 · Qualifying income examples · Embed the checker