From 6 April 2026, landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 need to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax unless an exemption applies. Qualifying income means gross property and self-employment income before expenses. From April 2027, the rules extend to landlords with qualifying income over £30,000, and from April 2028 to those over £20,000.
Landlords within the rules need digital records, quarterly updates and an annual tax return submitted using software that works with MTD for Income Tax. For someone with one or a few properties, the useful question is whether the product covers those filing tasks and income sources without making a small portfolio harder to manage.
1. A product that works with MTD for Income Tax
A product used for MTD filing needs to work with HMRC’s Income Tax system. A provider may deal with other HMRC services without covering MTD for Income Tax, so landlords need to check the exact product rather than assume one HMRC connection covers everything.
The HMRC product finder lists software that works with MTD for Income Tax. Checking that list gives landlords a useful first filter before price or extra features enter the decision.
2. Quarterly filing from the same account
Record keeping and filing are separate parts of MTD. Every three months, the software uses the digital records to produce totals for income and expenses and sends those figures to HMRC. These updates are summaries, not additional tax returns.
For a landlord with one property who wants to keep records and submit quarterly updates from the same account, free software for making tax digital needs to cover the filing itself on the permanent free tier, not record keeping alone. Otherwise, another filing tool or paid step may still be needed when an update is due.
3. Rental records that match HMRC requirements
Each digital record needs the amount, the date and the relevant income or expense category. For a rental property, that means keeping items such as rent received, repairs and other property costs in software rather than assembling the figures only when a deadline approaches.
HMRC treats one person’s UK properties as a single UK property business, so MTD does not require a separate quarterly update for every UK address. A landlord with several rentals may still prefer software that shows each property separately inside the account, since that makes it easier to see which rent and costs belong to each one.
4. A plan that still fits if another property is added
The cheapest option for one property does not say much about what happens when the portfolio grows. A landlord choosing a product needs to know how the price changes when another property is added, whether the same account holds all existing records and what the paid tier adds.
This matters particularly with a permanent free plan. One property may stay free indefinitely while extra properties move the account onto a paid tier. The pricing should show what changes when a second property is added, before the landlord has moved their records into the product.
5. Annual tax return filing
Quarterly updates sit alongside the annual tax return rather than replacing it. After the tax year ends, the MTD software is also used to complete and submit that return, with the 31 January deadline still applying.
A landlord with income from other sources may need more from the software. Employment, savings, dividends, self-employment or foreign income may also need to appear on the return, so the product needs to cover the sources being reported. HMRC’s product finder asks about these sources before showing the available software.
6. Foreign property support where it is needed
Foreign property income has its own reporting requirements under MTD. HMRC requires quarterly updates to include totals for foreign property income and expenses, with separate categories for total rents, other receipts and allowable property expenses.
A landlord receiving rent from property outside the UK therefore needs to check foreign property coverage before choosing a product. Support for UK rentals alone is not enough where overseas rent also forms part of the landlord’s MTD records.
7. Free plan terms that are clear from the start
The label free MTD software does not answer every pricing question. A landlord still needs to know how many properties the plan covers, whether quarterly filing is included, whether a payment card is required and what causes the account to move onto a paid tier.
A permanent free plan for one property stays free rather than ending after a short trial. Permanent does not necessarily mean unlimited in every respect either. Transaction volume, receipt storage or extra bookkeeping functions may still have limits, so those terms need to be clear before records are moved into the product.
8. Plain language for landlords filing without an accountant
Software aimed at landlords needs to use clear language when explaining HMRC terminology, without assuming accountancy knowledge. Labels for rent, repairs, quarterly updates and the annual return should make clear what information belongs where and what happens after a submission is sent.
This becomes more noticeable during the first year of MTD, when the landlord is dealing with new filing routines at the same time as keeping the usual property records. A clear filing status, readable categories and confirmation that HMRC has received an update make it easier to see what has been recorded, what has been filed and what still needs attention.
Price is only one part of the decision. For a landlord with one or a few properties, the software needs to cover the required records, quarterly updates and annual tax return for the income sources being reported, while still making sense for the size of the portfolio.
A free tier can suit a straightforward one-property setup when the required filing functions are included permanently rather than for a short trial. Checking those limits before moving records into a product avoids finding out at the first deadline that a required step sits outside the free plan.
Landlords reviewing their rental records can also read PAD Magazine’s article on how to deal with undeclared rental income.
