Checked against GOV.UK on 14 August 2026 · Applies from 6 April 2026 onwards.
“Can anybody give advice to help me, apart from selling both properties?”
We hear this most. a landlord of thirty years, two flats, OpenRent Community forum, 31 July 2026 — someone in the same position as you.
If your rental income puts you in, these are your dates. Your next quarterly update is due 7 November 2026, and because updates are cumulative it covers 6 April to 5 October 2026 — so it also catches up 7 August 2026 if you missed it. Your tax return for 2026 to 2027 is due 31 January 2028, and that one is still in the points system. And from September 2026 HMRC has been signing people up itself, in stages, if they had not signed up.
You are not alone, and this is the measured version of that sentence. HMRC put 864,000 sole traders and landlords in scope for this tax year (HMRC, 5 February 2026), and reported on 12 August 2026 that 436,000 had sent a first quarterly update and 570,000 had signed up. We have not subtracted one from the other to make a "how many are behind" headline — they were published six months apart and count different things — but you can see the size of the room you are standing in.
twenty minutes, tonight, with your rent statements to hand
None of those three steps costs money. Anyone charging you to do them is selling you something HMRC gives away.
Where these come from, on GOV.UK: quarterly updates and their deadlines · the tax return · who has to use MTD, and when · working out qualifying income · the recognised-software finder · what to do if HMRC signed you up.
| Qualifying income | On the tax return for | You must use MTD from |
|---|---|---|
| Over £50,000 | 2024 to 2025 | 6 April 2026 — already in force |
| Over £30,000 | 2025 to 2026 | 6 April 2027 |
| Over £20,000 | 2026 to 2027 | 6 April 2028 |
| £20,000 or less | — | Automatically exempt, unless your circumstances change |
Qualifying income is gross self-employment income plus gross property income, before expenses, taken from the tax return you filed in the previous tax year. Sources: find out if and when you need to use MTD and work out your qualifying income (GOV.UK).
HMRC publishes the official list of software recognised for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and its own guidance says plainly that “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs”. We drove that finder ourselves on 1 September 2026 and it returns recognised products costing £0 — for sole traders and for landlords, including bridging tools that submit straight from a spreadsheet you already keep. We take no commission from any of them, we rank none of them, and this site carries no affiliate links.
HMRC's official software finder (gov.uk) · how bridging software works · the free two-number check · your own four dates
Signing up for Making Tax Digital is free at GOV.UK. So is the checker on this page, and so is every answer on this site.
Joint lets get a specific concession in the quarterly update rules, because getting expense figures out of a co-owner four times a year is not always realistic.
For jointly let properties, in your quarterly updates you can choose to include either:
If you choose not to include the expenses during the year, you must report them after the end of the tax year. You do that by resending your fourth quarterly update before you submit your tax return.
If you also solely own other properties, you must include both income and expenses for those properties in your quarterly updates. The concession is for the jointly let ones only.
Your share of jointly let UK property forms part of your single UK property business, alongside anything you own outright. For jointly let foreign property, you create separate digital records relating to your share of income and expenses for each property — the foreign property rules in full.
The digital-links rules do not require a landlord who jointly lets a property to link their digital records to the records of the other landlord.
General information about UK tax rules, not tax advice. Your own circumstances and HMRC's official guidance govern your position. If you are unsure, speak to an accountant or contact HMRC.
No. You can report income only in your quarterly updates and add the expenses after the tax year ends by resending your fourth quarterly update.
Andrew at Axion Labs
I've read a lot of landlord forums while building this, and the saddest posts aren't about money. They're from people with one or two flats they've held for thirty years, wondering whether to sell up rather than learn a spreadsheet. If that's roughly where you are: this is a smaller job than it looks from the outside, it can be done for nothing, and selling a home over it would be a heavy price for a form. Read the free pages first.
General information about UK tax rules, not tax advice. Your own circumstances and HMRC's official guidance govern your position. If you are unsure, speak to an accountant or contact HMRC. Tax rules change — if this page is more than a few months old, check the GOV.UK pages linked above. Found an error? Email hello@getaxionlabs.com and we will correct it.
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