MTD ITSA for landlords: what changes from 6 April 2026

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment — usually shortened to MTD ITSA — went live on 6 April 2026. If you let UK property in your own name, and your combined gross income from self-employment and property is above the threshold, you are in scope. This guide covers what changes, when, and what you need to do about it.

Who’s affected, and when

The roll-out happens in three waves, decreasing in income threshold:

• From 6 April 2026 — landlords (and self-employed individuals) whose combined gross income from self-employment and property is above £50,000.
• From 6 April 2027 — threshold drops to £30,000.
• From 6 April 2028 — threshold drops to £20,000.

The threshold is on gross income — what you receive in rent and any self-employment turnover before deducting expenses or finance costs. It is not your taxable profit. A landlord with £55,000 of rent and £20,000 of expenses is in scope, even though the taxable profit is well below £50,000.

If your only sources of income are PAYE employment, savings, dividends, or pensions, you are not in scope. MTD ITSA is specifically about self-employment and property income.

How “qualifying income” is measured

HMRC works out whether you are above the threshold based on the income you reported on your most recent Self Assessment return. For the 6 April 2026 wave, that’s the 2024/25 return. They’ll write to you to confirm. If you disagree with their assessment — for example, your income has dropped — you can appeal.

The new quarterly cycle

Under MTD ITSA, you submit four quarterly updates to HMRC throughout the tax year, plus one Final Declaration at the end. Each quarterly update is a summary of your income and expenses for the period, submitted from MTD-compatible software.

The standard quarterly deadlines are:

• Q1: 6 April – 5 July — submission due 7 August
• Q2: 6 July – 5 October — submission due 7 November
• Q3: 6 October – 5 January — submission due 7 February
• Q4: 6 January – 5 April — submission due 7 May

You can opt to align quarterly periods with calendar months instead (so Q1 ends 30 June rather than 5 July). If you let property and have nothing else, this is generally a slightly cleaner option for record-keeping.

The Final Declaration

At the end of the tax year, the Final Declaration replaces the Self Assessment return you used to file. It pulls together:

• All four quarterly updates (with any adjustments for previously unaccounted items).
• Other income that’s not in scope of MTD — interest, dividends, employment income, capital gains.
• Adjustments and reliefs you can’t calculate quarter by quarter — for example the Section 24 finance cost restriction on residential mortgage interest.

The Final Declaration is due by 31 January following the end of the tax year — the same date that used to apply to Self Assessment. Tax payment dates are unchanged: balance on 31 January, payments on account on 31 January and 31 July.

Digital records — what HMRC actually requires

The “digital” in MTD is not about filing digitally — that’s been the case for years. It’s about keeping records digitally from the point of transaction. Spreadsheets are allowed, but they have to be linked into your MTD-compatible software via a digital link (no copy-paste). For most landlords the cleanest thing is to use one piece of software that captures records from your bank and submits to HMRC directly.

The minimum a digital record must capture, per transaction:

• amount;
• date of the transaction;
• category (e.g. rent received, repairs, mortgage interest);
• which property the transaction relates to (if you have more than one).

Paper receipts on their own do not satisfy MTD record-keeping. They’re still useful as evidence — keep them — but the digital record needs to exist alongside.

Penalties for late or missed submissions

Late quarterly updates and Final Declarations attract penalty points under HMRC’s points-based system, which is the same structure used for MTD VAT. You accumulate one point per missed submission. Once you cross the threshold (4 points for quarterly submissions across a year), you receive a £200 fixed penalty, and a further £200 for each missed submission after that until the points are reset by a clean compliance period.

Late payment of tax is a separate, older regime — interest and surcharges that haven’t fundamentally changed.

Exemptions

A small number of exemptions exist, mostly for people who genuinely cannot use digital tools (age, disability, location, religion). HMRC reviews each exemption application individually. The bar is high. Don’t plan around being exempted unless you’ve been formally approved.

Trust beneficiaries, members of partnerships, and certain other edge cases may also have specific rules; if you’re not a straightforward sole landlord, check your situation with an adviser.

What to do now

1. Confirm whether you’re in scope. If your 2024/25 Self Assessment showed combined self-employment + property income above £50,000, HMRC will have written to you (or will). If you’re unsure, check with HMRC or your accountant.
2. Pick your software. You need MTD-compatible software to submit. Otto Tax — which we’re building specifically for personally-held landlords — is one option, launching later in 2026. There are others.
3. Get your digital records in order from 6 April 2026. The first quarterly submission for the £50k+ cohort is due 7 August 2026 for Q1 (6 April – 5 July). It’s easier to start clean than to backfill three months of bank statements in late July.
4. Understand Section 24 and what counts as an allowable expense — these are the two rules that catch most landlords out, and both apply at quarterly granularity now.