How to record joint ownership income splits

If you own rental property jointly with someone else, you only need to report your share of income and expenses to HMRC. Provestor handles the calculation automatically — you just need to set your ownership percentage and record the full transaction amounts.

How joint ownership affects your tax reporting

When you submit quarterly updates and your final declaration, you report only your portion of income and expenses.

Example: You own a property 50/50 with your spouse. The property generates £12,000 of rental income and £4,000 of expenses in the tax year.

You report to HMRC: £6,000 income, £2,000 expenses
Your spouse reports to HMRC: £6,000 income, £2,000 expenses

Each co-owner submits their own share independently through their Making Tax Digital account.

For detailed guidance on the tax rules for jointly owned properties, including how HMRC treats married couples and non-married co-owners, see Jointly Owned Properties Tax Treatment.

How Provestor handles joint ownership

Provestor makes joint ownership splits simple:

Set your ownership percentage for each property (you do this once when you add the property)
Record the full amount of each transaction (the total rent received, the total expense paid)
Provestor calculates your share automatically when submitting to HMRC

This keeps record keeping straightforward while ensuring your tax submissions are accurate.

The golden rule

Always record the total amount of income or expenses, not your share.

Provestor applies your ownership percentage automatically when calculating what to submit to HMRC.

Example: You own 50% of a property. The tenant pays £1,200 in rent.

✓ Correct: Record £1,200 (the full amount)
✗ Wrong: Record £600 (your share)

When you record £1,200, Provestor multiplies it by your 50% ownership and submits £600 to HMRC. If you manually record £600, Provestor would submit £300 — half of what you should report.

Important

This is one of the most important concepts for jointly owned properties. Record the full transaction amount and let Provestor handle the split. Never calculate your share manually.

Setting ownership percentages

You set the ownership percentage when you add each property to Provestor. The percentage represents your share of beneficial ownership.

Common examples:

You own 100% (solely owned property) → 100%
You own 50% with one co-owner → 50%
You own 33.3% with two co-owners → 33.3%
You own 25% with three co-owners → 25%

Where to set this:

During onboarding: When you add properties in Step 4
After setup: In Settings, choose Properties, then edit the property

For detailed instructions on adding properties, see How to add your properties.

Mixed portfolios

You set the ownership percentage individually for each property. This means you can have a mixed portfolio with different ownership structures:

Property A: 100% (solely owned)
Property B: 50% (owned with spouse)
Property C: 33.3% (owned with two siblings)

Provestor tracks each property separately and applies the correct ownership split when you record transactions.

Married couples and Form 17

If you're married or in a civil partnership, HMRC assumes you split income 50/50 unless you've completed Form 17 to declare a different split.

If you've completed Form 17: Set your ownership percentage in Provestor to match what you declared on Form 17.

Example: You completed Form 17 declaring you own 75% and your spouse owns 25%. Set your ownership to 75% in Provestor.

If you haven't completed Form 17: Set your ownership to 50% in Provestor, regardless of actual legal ownership. This matches HMRC's default assumption.

For more on Form 17 and when you need it, see Jointly Owned Properties Tax Treatment.

What if ownership changes?

Once you've started recording income or expenses in Provestor, you cannot change the ownership percentage yourself. This is to protect the accuracy of your historical submissions.

If ownership changes — for example, you buy out a co-owner or add a new co-owner — contact Provestor support:

Tell us which property
What date the ownership changed
The new ownership percentage

We'll update the ownership from the date of the change, ensuring your tax reporting reflects the new split from the correct point in the tax year.

How the split appears in your submissions

When you review a quarterly update or final declaration before submitting, Provestor shows you the amounts that will be sent to HMRC — these are already adjusted for your ownership percentage.

Example: You own 50% of a property. During Q1 you recorded:

£3,000 rental income (full amount)
£500 maintenance expense (full amount)

Your Q1 submission to HMRC shows:

£1,500 rental income (your 50% share)
£250 maintenance expense (your 50% share)

The full amounts remain in your digital records for transparency, but only your share is submitted to HMRC.

Recording transactions for jointly owned properties

When you add income or expenses, the process is identical whether the property is solely owned or jointly owned:

Choose the transaction type (rental income, expense, etc.)
Enter the full amount
Select the property
Add any other required details (date, category, description)

Provestor applies the ownership split behind the scenes. You don't need to do anything differently.

For detailed guidance on recording income and expenses, see:

Common questions

Always enter the full amount. Provestor calculates your share automatically based on the ownership percentage you set for the property.

Do both co-owners use Provestor?

Not necessarily. Each co-owner reports their share independently to HMRC. You can use Provestor to submit your portion, while your co-owner uses different software (or no software, if they're not yet required to use Making Tax Digital).

Can I change the ownership percentage mid-year?

If ownership genuinely changes (for example, through a buyout), contact Provestor support and we'll update it from the date of the change. You can't change it yourself once you've started recording transactions, to protect the accuracy of your submissions.

Edit the transaction to correct it to the full amount. Provestor will recalculate your share automatically. If you've already submitted a quarterly update with the wrong figures, read more about correcting errors