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Guide · Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for landlords.
From 6 April 2026, some landlords must keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates. Whether you are in scope depends on your income from property and self-employment.
Check your own position with the checker below, then confirm on GOV.UK.
Thresholds and dates checked against GOV.UK on .
Go to the checker01 Who is in scope, and when
Three start dates, set by your income.
It is based on your qualifying income on the tax return for an earlier year.
- Over £50,000 in 2024–25
- 6 April 2026Based on your 2024 to 2025 tax return
- Over £30,000 in 2025–26
- 6 April 2027Based on your 2025 to 2026 tax return
- Over £20,000 in 2026–27
- 6 April 2028Based on your 2026 to 2027 tax return
£20,000 or less: you are exempt. Source: GOV.UK — Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Start dates: GOV.UK — Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
02 Qualifying income
What counts towards the threshold.
Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property, before expenses. It is not your profit.
- Rent from UK and foreign property counts.
- Turnover from self-employment counts.
- Your share of a partnership’s profit does not count.
- Wages from employment, pensions and dividends do not count.
Jointly owned property: only include your share. If you own a property equally with one other person and the rent is £50,000, you each have £25,000.
HMRC’s example: £25,000 of rent plus £27,000 from self-employment is £52,000. That is over £50,000, so you would start on 6 April 2026.
03 What changes
Digital records, quarterly updates.
Keep digital records
Record your income and expenses using software that works with Making Tax Digital.
Your software adds them up into totals for each business.
Send quarterly updates
Send a summary of your income and expenses every three months.
Updates are summaries, not tax returns. You send them for each sole trader and property business you have.
File your tax return
Submit your tax return through your software by 31 January after the tax year ends.
Joint owners can send income only in their updates and add expenses later.
04 Key dates
Quarterly update deadlines.
These are the standard update periods. You can choose calendar update periods instead, which run to the end of a month, and the deadlines are the same. You choose this in your software before your first update.
| Update | Period covered | Send by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 April to 5 July | 7 August |
| 2 | 6 April to 5 October | 7 November |
| 3 | 6 April to 5 January | 7 February |
| 4 | 6 April to 5 April | 7 May (the following tax year) |
If you start on 6 April 2026
| What | Deadline |
|---|---|
| First quarterly update | 7 August 2026 |
| Second quarterly update | 7 November 2026 |
| Third quarterly update | 7 February 2027 |
| Fourth quarterly update | 7 May 2027 |
| 2026 to 2027 tax return | 31 January 2028 |
Source: GOV.UK — Send quarterly updates; Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time.
05 Penalties and exemptions
Late updates, and who is exempt.
Penalties for late quarterly updates
There are no penalty points for late quarterly updates in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Budget 2026 extended this: if you have to join from April 2027, there are no penalty points for late quarterly updates in the 2027 to 2028 tax year either. After that, a point is added for each late update. At 4 points you get a £200 penalty. Penalty points still apply to a late tax return.
Who is exempt
You are automatically exempt if your qualifying income is £20,000 or less, if you had no National Insurance number before the start of the tax year, if you are a trustee or a personal representative of someone who has died, or in some power of attorney cases. If you expect to complete the residence pages (SA109) of your return, for example as a non-resident landlord, you are exempt for 2026 to 2027. You can also apply for an exemption if it is not reasonable for you to use software, for example because of your age, a health condition or disability. See the full list on GOV.UK.
Partnerships
Partnerships do not need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax yet. A partner’s share of partnership profit does not count towards the threshold.
If your income falls
HMRC checks your qualifying income from your tax return each year. If it falls below the threshold, check GOV.UK or ask HMRC before you stop using Making Tax Digital.
06 Portfio
Your numbers, all year round.
Portfio is not Making Tax Digital software. It does not keep digital records for HMRC or send quarterly updates.
It does show value, equity, rent and cashflow across your properties, and exports to CSV.
Free for your first two properties, with every feature
Then £4.99 a month on Pro for up to 20 properties, or £9.99 a month on Portfolio for unlimited properties.
“Value, equity, rent, cashflow and a 0–10 health score.”
“LTV, rate, lender and fix-end date for every door.”
Included on every plan, including the free one.
Feature wording from portfio.app. Indicative modelling only.
07 Questions
Common questions.
Is the threshold based on profit or rent?
Rent, before expenses, also called turnover. Your costs are not taken off when you check the threshold. The one exception: if you jointly own a property and are only told your share of the income after expenses, HMRC uses that figure.
Will HMRC tell me?
HMRC will write to you if it thinks you need to use Making Tax Digital. You must still check for yourself.
Do I need to be registered for Self Assessment?
Yes. To use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax you must be registered for Self Assessment and have sent a tax return in the last 2 years. Landlords must register anyway if their rental income is more than £10,000 before expenses, or more than £2,500 after expenses.
Sources
- 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: send quarterly updates
- GOV.UK — Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- GOV.UK — Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
- GOV.UK — Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time
- GOV.UK — Submit your tax return (Making Tax Digital)
- GOV.UK — Renting out a property: paying tax
Last checked against these pages on . We review them every tax year.
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Portfio is not Making Tax Digital software.