Making Tax Digital for landlords
Getting landlords ready for MTD
Do you know what steps you need to take, as a landlord, to comply with MTD legislation? In this chapter, we’ll discuss the key things you can do to get your property records in order, plus the steps needed to register for Making Tax Digital in April 2026.
If you’re a landlord in scope for MTD, what can you do to make the switch to MTD easier? April 2026 might sound like a long time away but you can guarantee it will be here before you know it. To get ready for the move to digital record-keeping, here are two key things you can do:
Set up a property bank account
We find it’s quite common for landlords with just one property - perhaps an inherited property - to use their personal bank account for receiving rent and paying property expenses. This is a bad idea!
Here are four reasons why, with MTD on the horizon, you should consider using a dedicated bank account.
Having a specific bank account for your property business allows you to keep your rental income and property transactions separate from your day-to-day spending.
It also reduces risk and protects your personal assets from your business and vice versa.
You're more likely to save tax - if everything's mixed up together, you'll often miss property related expenses buried in your personal account
Particularly with MTD, a separate bank account (and one that is compatible with Open Banking) makes it much easier to import transactions into your accounting software, saving you time.
You don’t necessarily need to use a paid business bank account, just keeping your property finances in a separate account is enough.
📖 Read our blog on bank accounts for landlords for more tips on setting up a property bank account.
Switch to specialist property accounting software that's MTD ready
If you hand all your records to your accountant at the end of the year, MTD is going to come as a shock. Getting ahead and moving to digital accounting software, such as Provestor’s property accounting app, sooner rather than later makes business sense and will give you time to adjust to digital record keeping ahead of the MTD deadline.
A benefit of switching to Provestor’s specialist property accounting software is that unlike other accounting apps, Provestor is tailored to landlords and has everything you need to manage your property finances in one place.
What do landlords need to do for MTD?
MTD comes into effect on 6 April 2026, at the start of the new tax year. How is the transition from yearly Self Assessments to quarterly MTD submissions going to work?
You’ll submit your Self Assessment Tax Return for the 2024/2025 tax year as normal by 31 January 2026.
HMRC will then review the return and check if your qualifying income is more than £50,000.
If it is, you will need to meet the MTD for Income Tax requirements from 6 April 2026.
How to register landlords for Making Tax Digital
If you are in scope, there are two main ways to register for Making Tax Digital:
1. Via your accountant
If you have an accountant, they will register for you for Making Tax Digital. Get in touch with them and have a conversation about their process and any changes or additional charges you need to be aware of.
Depending on how you work with your accountant, you may need to get some MTD compatible accounting software.
If your accountant has you fill out a spreadsheet or if you usually hand over a bag of receipts at the end of the year, then you’re going to need to switch to digital record keeping.
As mentioned earlier, it’s a good idea to get this in place sooner rather than later to give you time to adjust before you need to start making quarterly submissions.
Don’t have an accountant but need some support with MTD?
2. Self register
If you usually submit your own Self Assessment and want to self-register for MTD, you can do so using the online form on the HMRC website.
Before you sign up, make sure you have these details to hand:
Your National Insurance number
Your Government Gateway user ID and password
MTD-compatible software - you’ll need to link this to your account
Once you’ve got all these together, head over to HMRC’s website, follow the steps in the online form and register for MTD.
Hopefully we’ve answered a few of your questions about how to prepare for MTD. It is a big change and if you have a question we’ve not covered, feel free to get in touch using the LiveChat below - we’re here to help landlords navigate these changes. The next chapter in our guide is packed full of MTD FAQs.
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