Making Tax Digital for landlords: what changes from April 2027
Who joins on 6 April 2027, how your rental income is counted, how joint property works, and what you send each quarter.
The short version. If your gross rent plus self-employment turnover on your 2025/26 return was over £30,000, you join Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on 6 April 2027. You then send quarterly updates of your property income and costs instead of waiting for one annual return.
What counts as qualifying income
Qualifying income is your gross self-employment turnover plus your gross property income, before expenses. Employment income, dividends, pensions and partnership profit shares do not count. It must be more than the threshold, so exactly £30,000 does not put you in.
The three waves
| Starts | Qualifying income over | Based on your return for |
|---|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 | £50,000 | 2024/25 |
| 6 April 2027 | £30,000 | 2025/26 |
| 6 April 2028 | £20,000 | 2026/27 |
HMRC checks the Self Assessment return for the tax year two years before the start date. So the 2025/26 return you file by 31 January 2027 decides whether you start in April 2027. Partnerships are not yet in scope; HMRC will set a timeline later.
Joint property
If you own a property jointly, only your share of the income counts towards the threshold.
Quarterly updates for property income
Once you are in, you send four updates a year. Each is a running total from 6 April: to 5 July (due 7 August), to 5 October (due 7 November), to 5 January (due 7 February) and to 5 April (due 7 May). Calendar quarters have the same due dates. You send totals, not receipts. For solely owned properties, the updates include both income and expenses. For jointly let properties, gov.uk lets you choose to include income and expenses, or income only; if you leave the expenses out, you report them after the end of the tax year. The final declaration replaces the annual return and is due 31 January after the tax year.
If your property turnover is under £90,000, you can record each transaction as just income or expense. Residential landlords still flag finance costs.
What is not changing
Section 24 still works as a tax reduction, not a deduction from rent. The reduction is 20% of the lowest of your finance costs (plus any brought forward), your property profits, or your income above the personal allowance. It cannot create a refund, and unused finance costs carry forward to later years of the same property business. The landlord tax calculator shows what it does to your bill. For what you can deduct in the first place, see landlord allowable expenses.
Before April 2027
Keep records digitally from 6 April 2027 and pick your software before your first update. The Making Tax Digital checker tells you which date applies to you, and the checklist below lists each step.
Keep the totals ready in a spreadsheet
The Landlord MTD Record Book costs £12 as a one-off download. You log rent, costs and mortgage interest for up to 10 properties. It keeps finance costs apart for Section 24, takes your share of joint lets, and adds everything up the way each quarterly update asks.
Get the record book, £12Questions people ask
When do landlords have to start Making Tax Digital?
From 6 April 2026 if qualifying income was over £50,000 on the 2024/25 return, from 6 April 2027 if over £30,000 on the 2025/26 return, and from 6 April 2028 if over £20,000 on the 2026/27 return.
What counts as qualifying income for a landlord?
Gross property income plus gross self-employment turnover, before expenses. Employment income, dividends, pensions and partnership profit shares do not count.
How does joint property count?
Only your share counts towards the threshold.
Do I still get the Section 24 tax reduction?
Section 24 works as before: a tax reduction at 20% of the lowest of your finance costs, your property profits, or your income above the personal allowance. Residential landlords still have to flag finance costs.
Free: the one-page MTD checklist
Every quarterly date, what to do before each update, and what happens if you miss one. Join the list and we email you a short reminder a week before each deadline. Unsubscribe any time.
You are on the list. Your checklist is ready: Download the checklist (PDF)
We will also email you the link, so you have it for later.
General information, not tax advice. Check your own figures on gov.uk or with an accountant if you are unsure.
Checked against gov.uk on 7 November 2026. Sources: the gov.uk pages on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, Self Assessment deadlines and payments on account, and penalties.