Making Tax Digital: What Landlords Earning Over £50k Need to Do Now

Three weeks. That is how long landlords with gross rental income above £50,000 have left to get ready for Making Tax Digital.

From 6 April 2026, a significant number of UK landlords will be legally required to keep digital records and submit quarterly income and expense summaries to HMRC using approved software. The annual Self Assessment return does not disappear entirely, but it gets replaced by a new process that requires action four times a year instead of once.

If you have not yet looked into this, now is the moment. Not because HMRC will come down hard on you from day one (there is a soft landing in year one for quarterly submissions), but because signing up takes time, choosing software takes time, and getting your records into a digital format takes time. Starting on 6 April is already starting late.

Below is the detail on both counts.

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Who Is Affected from April 2026

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) goes live for landlords whose qualifying income exceeded £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year. The threshold is based on the tax year ending 5 April 2025.

Qualifying income includes:

• Gross rental income from UK and overseas properties (before any expenses are deducted)
• Any self-employment turnover

It does not include employment income (PAYE), dividends, savings interest, or pension income.

That £50,000 is gross turnover, not profit. If your rental income totals £55,000 before expenses and you have a net profit of £12,000 after mortgage interest, management fees, and repairs, you are still above the threshold and must comply.

This matters because many landlords with modest profits are actually above the threshold. A landlord with four properties renting at around £1,100 a month each is earning roughly £52,800 gross per year. Whether they are making money after costs is a separate question.

HMRC identifies affected landlords from their 2024 to 2025 Self Assessment return, which was due by 31 January 2026. If you filed your return and your qualifying income was above £50,000, expect a letter from HMRC confirming your obligation. You can also use the eligibility checker on GOV.UK to confirm your position.

Limited company landlords are not affected. MTD for Income Tax applies to sole traders and individual landlords only. If all your rental properties are owned through a limited company, this does not apply to you right now.

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What Actually Changes

The core change is moving from one annual tax return to a quarterly reporting system plus a final declaration.