It has already started. Landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 were mandated from 6 April 2026, the test is on gross rent rather than profit, and property and self-employment turnover are added together to get there. Here is who is in and from when, what a quarterly update actually contains, and what happens when one is late.
If your qualifying income for 2024/25 was over £50,000, HMRC's position is that you should have started using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026. That is the present tense, not a warning about next year. The underlying instrument is the Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/336, which covers compatible software, timing, quarterly updates and returns, digital records and exemptions across eight parts.
Two more phases follow, and each one is decided by a different tax year:
| Qualifying income | Decided by the return for | Mandated from |
|---|---|---|
| Over £50,000 | 2024/25 | 6 April 2026 — already live |
| Over £30,000 | 2025/26 | 6 April 2027 |
| Over £20,000 | 2026/27 | 6 April 2028 |
The structure of that table is the part landlords miss. Your obligation is not set by the year you are living through. It is set by the Self Assessment return you submitted in the previous tax year. By the time the April arrives, the answer was decided by a figure you reported months earlier and can no longer change.
Making Tax Digital does not change what you owe. It changes how, and how often, you report it. The landlords who find it painful are the ones whose records were assembled once a year in January, because that method has nothing to hand HMRC in August.
The threshold
HMRC defines qualifying income as your total income from self-employment and property, and states that this is the amount before expenses, also known as turnover. Not profit. Not rent after the mortgage. The rent that lands in your account.
It is also cumulative across income types. HMRC's own worked example adds £25,000 of rental income to £27,000 of self-employment income to reach £52,000, which is over the first threshold. A landlord who also consults, or trades on the side, is tested on both together.
Illustrative only. A landlord receives £45,000 of rent and pays £10,000 of mortgage interest. The profit is nowhere near £50,000, but the test is on the £45,000. That is under the first threshold and over £30,000, so this landlord is mandated from 6 April 2027, decided by the 2025/26 return.
Illustrative only. The same landlord also invoices £12,000 a year of self-employed work. Added together that is £57,000, which is over £50,000, so the obligation started on 6 April 2026 instead — two years earlier, on identical properties.
Illustrative only. A couple own one property jointly and receive £60,000 of rent between them. A share of jointly owned property counts as that share, so each is tested on £30,000. The second threshold is over £30,000, so neither is caught by the 6 April 2027 phase. Both are over £20,000, so both come in on 6 April 2028. A pound either side of a threshold moves the date by a year, which is why the figure has to be measured rather than estimated.
Work out where you sit with the MTD for landlords checker, which asks for gross rent, any self-employment turnover and your share of jointly held property, and returns the threshold, the deciding tax year and the April.
The quarterly cycle
The standard periods are aligned to the tax year, and the deadlines are fixed:
| Standard period | Deadline |
|---|---|
| 6 April – 5 July | 7 August |
| 6 April – 5 October | 7 November |
| 6 April – 5 January | 7 February |
| 6 April – 5 April | 7 May |
You may instead elect to use calendar quarters, ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March. The same four deadlines apply either way, so the election is about which dates your records already fall on, not about buying more time.
What goes into one is narrower than most landlords assume. An update carries totals for each income and expense category. HMRC's guidance calls them summaries, not tax returns, and says HMRC will not receive details of individual digital records, such as a receipt or invoice. It also says you do not need to make any accounting or tax adjustments before sending a quarterly update.
No tax is paid quarterly. HMRC states that Making Tax Digital will not change the way you pay tax or the dates that payments are due. Payments on account remain 31 January and 31 July. The balancing payment remains 31 January. Four updates a year is a reporting change, not a cash-flow change.
Because no adjustments are needed before an update, the finance cost restriction, capital allowances, private use adjustments and the property income allowance are all dealt with at the return. A quarterly update is therefore not a prediction of your tax bill, and treating it as one is the fastest way to reserve the wrong amount. See landlord tax returns for what happens at the year end.
The annual return
The tax return has not been abolished. It is still due by 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year. The change is that it is filed through your Making Tax Digital software rather than through HMRC's online Self Assessment service.
HMRC pre-populates employment, pension and state benefit income. Everything the quarterly updates do not carry has to be added by you: dividends, savings interest and chargeable gains. If you sold a rental property during the year, the gain belongs here as well as in the 60-day report — see capital gains tax on property.
So the year now has five submission points rather than one, and the fifth is the one that actually calculates the tax. That is why the quarterly work has to be accurate rather than approximate: the return is built from it, and nothing between August and January silently corrects a badly categorised year.
Penalties
Late submission is points-based. One point for each missed quarterly update or return. The threshold is four points. Reach it and a £200 penalty applies, with a further £200 for every subsequent miss. The regime applies from the tax year you join Making Tax Digital.
There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026/27 tax year. Each update still has to be sent before you can submit the tax return, and late updates earn points from 2027/28.
Late payment is a separate regime. For 2026/27: nothing is charged for the first 15 days. Pay between 16 and 30 days late and you are charged 3% of the tax outstanding at day 15. At 31 days or more, you get 3% of the amount outstanding at day 15, plus 3% of the amount still outstanding at day 30, plus 10% a year on the balance from that point. For 2027/28 those two 3% figures become 4%. In your first year under the new penalties you have 30 days from the due date to pay in full or contact HMRC to set up a payment plan before any penalty applies; after the first year that period is 15 days. The new late payment penalties do not apply to payments on account, and earlier tax years stay under the current penalties, so for a landlord who joined on 6 April 2026 the first balancing payment they reach is the one for 2026/27, due on 31 January 2028.
Illustrative only, on 2026/27 rules. A landlord who joined on 6 April 2026 has £4,000 of tax to pay as the 2026/27 balancing payment, due on 31 January 2028. Paid in full, or with a payment plan agreed, within 30 days, there is no penalty, because 2026/27 is this landlord's first year under the new penalties. Paid 40 days late, penalties apply. The day 15 charge is 3% of £4,000, which is £120. The day 30 charge is 3% of the £4,000 still outstanding, another £120. The 10% a year then runs for the ten days from day 31 to day 40, which is £4,000 × 10% × 10/365, or about £11. Total: roughly £251 on a £4,000 bill five and a half weeks late, plus late payment interest.
Exemptions
Some exemptions are automatic and permanent. Qualifying income of £20,000 or less. No National Insurance number before the start of the tax year. Trusts. Personal representatives of a deceased person. Non-resident companies. Lloyd's members. And people who are unable to provide information and have a power of attorney or a legal deputy acting for them.
One exemption has to be applied for: digital exclusion, on the basis that it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software. HMRC gives four grounds — age, health, religious belief, or no internet access by reason of location.
Partnerships do not currently need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and no date has been set for bringing them in. A landlord holding property through a partnership is outside the regime for now. That is a fact to hold lightly rather than to build a structure on, because 'no date set' is not the same as 'never'.
Non-resident landlords have an overlay to think about alongside this, because the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme deducts tax at source through the agent or the tenant — see non-resident landlords.
Four deadlines a year plus a return is a rhythm, and rhythms only work when somebody owns them. This is what we take on.
Which threshold catches you, which tax year decides it, which April you start, and whether a jointly held share or a side trade changes the answer.
Check it yourselfDigital records that satisfy the regulations, with rent and costs tracked property by property rather than pooled into one column.
Property bookkeepingCategory totals prepared and submitted for 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, against standard or calendar quarters, whichever fits your records.
Filed through MTD software by 31 January, with the finance cost reducer, capital allowances, private use and the property income allowance worked at the return where they belong.
Landlord tax returnsEvery update is sent before its deadline, including in 2026/27, when HMRC is not giving penalty points for late updates, and payment dates are diarised so late-payment charges do not start.
Because the totals are current four times a year, the tax position is knowable in September rather than in the following January.
The landlord tax calendarSoftware and sign-up
Buzz Accounting is a Xero Gold Partner and a FreeAgent partner, and both are recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. If you already keep your records in one of them, we can work in your account.
If HMRC has written to say it has signed you up, read what to do if HMRC has signed you up. HMRC sends the letter to you and does not send a copy to your accountant.
Where to go next depends on where you are. Buy-to-let landlords covers one property to ten. Portfolio landlords covers the property-level reporting a larger portfolio needs. First-time landlords starts at registration. And the full guide to Making Tax Digital goes deeper than a service page can.
Three thresholds, each decided by a different tax year. Qualifying income over £50,000 on your 2024/25 return brought you in from 6 April 2026, so that phase is already live. Over £30,000 on your 2025/26 return brings you in from 6 April 2027. Over £20,000 on your 2026/27 return brings you in from 6 April 2028. The year that decides is the return you filed in the previous tax year, not the year you are trading in, which is why the answer is usually already fixed by the time anybody asks the question. Qualifying income of £20,000 or less carries an automatic and permanent exemption.
Your rent. HMRC defines qualifying income as total income from self-employment and property before expenses, which is turnover. A landlord receiving £45,000 of rent and paying £10,000 of mortgage interest is tested on £45,000, not on £35,000. Self-employment and property are then added together: HMRC's own example adds £25,000 of rental income to £27,000 of self-employment income to reach £52,000, which is over the first threshold. A share of jointly owned property counts as that share, so £50,000 of rent split equally between two owners is £25,000 each. Employment income, a partnership profit share, dividends including from your own company, the State Pension and private pensions are not qualifying income.
No. A quarterly update is a summary rather than a return, and no tax is paid with it. HMRC's guidance is explicit that Making Tax Digital does not change the way you pay tax or the dates that payments are due. Payments on account still fall on 31 January and 31 July, and the balancing payment still falls on 31 January. What changes is the reporting rhythm: four updates of category totals for each business during the year, then the tax return after the year end. The cash position is unchanged. The record-keeping is not, because the totals have to be right four times a year instead of once.
Yes, and the deadline is unchanged at 31 January following the end of the tax year. What changes is where it is filed: through Making Tax Digital compatible software rather than HMRC's online Self Assessment service. HMRC pre-populates employment, pension and state benefit income. You add everything the quarterly updates do not carry, which means dividends, savings interest and chargeable gains, and you make the accounting and tax adjustments there. That split is deliberate: no accounting or tax adjustments are needed before sending a quarterly update, so capital allowances, private use adjustments and the finance cost restriction are all dealt with at the return.
Late submission is points-based: one point per missed quarterly update or return, a threshold of four points, then a £200 penalty and £200 for each further miss. There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026/27 tax year, but each update still has to be sent before the tax return, and points for late updates apply from 2027/28. Late payment is separate. For 2026/27 nothing is charged for the first 15 days; 3% of the tax outstanding at day 15 if you pay between 16 and 30 days late; and at 31 days or more, 3% at day 15, 3% at day 30 and 10% a year on what is still outstanding. Those 3% figures become 4% for 2027/28. In your first year under the new penalties you have 30 days to pay, or to set up a payment plan, before any penalty applies.
Some exemptions are automatic and permanent: qualifying income of £20,000 or less, no National Insurance number before the start of the tax year, trusts, personal representatives of someone who has died, non-resident companies, Lloyd's members, and people who cannot provide the information and have a power of attorney or a legal deputy. Digital exclusion is different and has to be applied for, on the ground that it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software because of age, health, religious belief, or because you cannot get internet access by reason of location. Partnerships do not currently need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and no date has been set.
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