One in three software products listed by HMRC for landlords using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax can’t yet file the tax return that completes the tax year, an analysis of the government's software finder suggests.

HMRC’s official list names 128 products that currently support UK property income for individual landlords, but only 84 show the final tax return as ready now.

A further 32 products list the tax return as ‘in development’, while 12 don’t include the tax return, according to a count of every product page carried out by landlord software company LetCompliance.

HMRC lists 165 Making Tax Digital for Income Tax products in total. It says the figures mean about 34% of the products available for UK property income do not currently show the final tax return as ready.

Submit

HMRC’s guidance makes clear that landlords using Making Tax Digital need software that can create and store digital records, send quarterly updates and submit their tax return. It also says users should check that their chosen software supports all their income sources and allows them to complete the tax return.

Erdem Volkan, founder of LetCompliance, says landlords are being told to pick software from HMRC’s list, and most will look at whether it sends the quarterly updates. “The tax return line matters just as much,” he explains. “A third of the products on the list cannot yet finish the year, so a landlord choosing today should check that line, and the other income they need to report, before they sign up.”

An HMRC spokesperson tells LandlordZONE: “Our Software Choices tool is updated regularly and shows the products and features currently available to support customers in meeting their obligations. Where a feature is marked ‘under development’, it is expected to be ready before customers need to submit their end-of-year return."

He adds that HMRC continues to work closely with the software industry to support a broad range of MTD-compatible products, including free and low-cost.

Turnover

HMRC is urging sole traders and landlords with a turnover of more than £30,000 to sign up on GOV.UK. From 6 April 2027, about 1,077,000 more sole traders and landlords will need to create digital records and use compatible software to send HMRC quarterly updates of their income and expenses and to complete their tax return, in addition to those already using the service.

MTD came into force six months ago, with the next update due by 7 November. A survey of 500 business owners already using the software by business management platform Tide found that it was expected to entail six days of added admin time within the first year. More than 1 in 10 (13%) predict that MTD will require more than 10 full days of their time.

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