MTD for landlords — plain-English guide

MTD software for landlords: what UK property owners actually need

If you let property in the UK, Making Tax Digital changes how you report rental income — but it doesn't have to mean expensive accounting software. Here's what applies to landlords, and how a spreadsheet still works.

A practical guide for UK residential and commercial landlords · 2026/27 tax year

Does MTD for Income Tax apply to landlords?

Yes — rental profit is within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. What matters is your gross income, and crucially it's your property income combined with any self-employment income that's tested against the threshold, not each one separately.

From April 2026 — combined self-employment + property income over £50,000.
From April 2027 — over £30,000.
From April 2028 — over £20,000.

So a landlord with £40,000 of rents and a £15,000 side trade is over the £50,000 line from April 2026, even though neither source exceeds it alone.

Note: it's gross rents received, before expenses — not your rental profit. A portfolio producing high rents can be in scope even on thin margins.

What changes for landlords

Two things. Your property records must be digital, and you send HMRC a quarterly update summarising rental income and expenses for your UK property business — four times a year, as running totals — followed by a year-end Final Declaration.

All your UK property is treated as a single UK property business. You don't file per-property; you combine them into one set of figures. (Furnished holiday lettings and overseas property have their own treatment.)

The property categories HMRC expects

Your records need to map to HMRC's UK-property boxes, broadly:

Income: rents received, premiums for the grant of a lease, reverse premiums, and any rent-a-room receipts.

Expenses: premises running costs, repairs and maintenance, financial costs (with the residential finance-cost restriction), professional and legal fees, cost of services, and other allowable expenses.

Getting income and expenses into these categories as you go is most of the job — do that, and the quarterly update is just a summary.

Can landlords use a spreadsheet?

Yes. HMRC doesn't require landlords to adopt full accounting software — it requires digital records that reach HMRC through compatible software by a digital link (a formula or software, not manual re-typing). A spreadsheet plus bridging software meets both, and for many landlords that's far simpler and cheaper than a monthly accounting subscription built for businesses they don't run.

Built for landlords who already use a spreadsheet

SheetMTD structures your rental records into HMRC's UK-property categories inside Google Sheets, keeps the digital link by formula, and — once HMRC recognition completes — files your quarterly updates from a sidebar. Record-keeping is free; one-click filing is coming.

See how it works & join the list →

Landlord checklist

Add up gross rents + any self-employment income; check it against the current threshold.
Keep rental income and expenses digitally, in HMRC's property categories.
Combine all UK property into one business for reporting.
Make sure totals reach HMRC by a digital link, not manual typing.
File the four quarterly updates (due 7 Aug, 7 Nov, 7 Feb, 7 May) and finalise with the Final Declaration.

General information about Making Tax Digital for landlords, not personal tax advice. Rules and thresholds change — check GOV.UK or your accountant for your circumstances. See also our guide to MTD on a spreadsheet.