Making Tax Digital (MTD) for landlords

What is expected of landlords?

MTD for Income Tax applies to individual landlords, not limited companies, and is being introduced in stages. You may need to use MTD for Income Tax if you’re registered for Self Assessment and receive property income, self-employment income, or a combination of the two. HMRC will use information from your Self Assessment return to decide when you need to start. The thresholds are based on gross qualifying income, before expenses are deducted.

The timetable is:

• Over £50,000 qualifying income in the 2024/25 tax year: MTD applies from 6 April 2026
• Over £30,000 qualifying income in the 2025/26 tax year: MTD applies from 6 April 2027
• Over £20,000 qualifying income in the 2026/27 tax year: MTD applies from 6 April 2028

Landlords in scope will need to send quarterly summaries of income and expenses to HMRC using compatible software. A final tax return is still required after the end of the tax year.

What counts as qualifying income?

Qualifying income is the figure HMRC uses to decide whether you need to join MTD for Income Tax.

For landlords, this generally means gross income from property, before deducting mortgage interest, repairs, agent fees or other allowable expenses. If you also have self-employment income, that is added to your property income when assessing whether you meet the threshold. For example, a landlord with £45,000 of rental income and £10,000 of sole trader income, means a combined income of £57,000, bringing them within scope.

This is particularly important for landlords with multiple properties, higher-value rental homes, mixed portfolios or additional self-employed income. A landlord may fall within scope even where their taxable profit is much lower than their gross income.

If your properties are held through a limited company, MTD for Income Tax does not currently apply in the same way. Limited company landlords should seek advice on their Corporation Tax and reporting obligations.

What needs to be submitted?

Landlords will need to send quarterly updates to HMRC using compatible software. For standard tax-year reporting, the quarterly update deadlines are:

• 7 August
• 7 November
• 7 February
• 7 May

These updates cover income and expenses recorded during the tax year. HMRC says that you must still send an update even if no income or expenses have been recorded in a period.

A final tax return is still required after the end of the tax year. This is where your overall tax position is confirmed, including any adjustments, reliefs or other income that may not have been included in the quarterly updates.

How to prepare

Landlords should act now, even if you’re not sure whether they fall within the first phase of MTD.

The most important first step is to check whether your gross qualifying income brings you within scope. HMRC has published guidance to help landlords check if and when they need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Steps to consider include:

• Confirm whether you are in scope, based on your most recent Self Assessment tax return
• Review your total gross rental income across all personally held UK properties
• Check whether any self-employment income needs to be added to your property income
• Move to digital record keeping if you are not already doing so
• Choose MTD-compatible software, or speak to your accountant about the software they use
• Set a regular routine for recording income and expenses throughout the year
• Speak with your accountant or tax adviser about quarterly updates and year-end reporting
• Make sure your Knight Frank landlord statements and CSV files are shared with the right adviser or software provider

Preparing early should help reduce disruption, limit manual work and make quarterly reporting feel less stressful.

HMRC has published guidance to help landlords understand when MTD applies, what they need to do and how quarterly updates work. They include:

• GOV.UK: Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• GOV.UK: Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and send quarterly updates

How Knight Frank supports landlords

Knight Frank is helping landlords through the transition to Making Tax Digital by making rental records easier to share, review and upload.

Landlord statements

We’ll continue to provide comprehensive landlord statements. These can be shared with your accountant or tax adviser to support digital record keeping, quarterly reporting and year-end tax preparation.

For landlords with high-value homes, multiple tenancies or more complex rental arrangements, clear and consistent statements can help reduce the administrative burden and give your advisers the information they need in a usable format.

CSV filing

We’ll also offer a CSV upload file, meaning you or your advisers can upload income and expense data into MTD-compatible accounting software.

This is designed to reduce manual entry, improve consistency and make the transition to quarterly reporting more straightforward. Your accountant or tax adviser will be able to confirm how this data should be used within your chosen software and wider tax process.