A tax expert has urged landlords that it’s not too late to register for Making Tax Digital (MTD) despite the first filing deadline now less than three weeks away.  

More than 259,000 landlords with a turnover of above £50,000 will need to sign up for for the 2026/2027 tax year, according to government figures. The total number with any property income affected by MTD for Income Tax include 118,000 whose only source of qualifying income is property rental, and 141,000 who have both self-employment income and property income, such as a builder who also rents out a property.

However, business management platform Tide’s poll of 500 UK sole traders and landlords earning £50,000 or more a year found one in four hadn’t yet signed up. The South East (46%), North West (29%) and London (26%) had the lowest sign-up rates, while 22% of business owners were still unaware the 7th August deadline was looming.

Number

Barry Soraff, partner at Xeinadin (pictured), says he wouldn’t be surprised if there were a large number of unadvised taxpayers that haven’t yet signed up, but insists it’s a simple process.

HMRC are also taking a light touch in the first year and not issuing penalty points for late submission but that changes once the scheme is up and running. For each quarterly update (for tax years after 2026 to 2027) or tax return deadline missed, landlords will get a penalty point, with a threshold of four points. If they reach this, they’ll get a £200 penalty and a £200 penalty each time they miss another submission deadline. However, they can only get one penalty point per deadline, which applies even if they have more than one business and send more than one quarterly update late.

Software

Landlords don’t need MTD software, but it’s strongly recommended, Soraff tells LandlordZONE. “The biggest mistake I expect them to make is probably just submitting incorrect data because they are inexperienced bookkeepers - assuming they’re doing the leg work themselves as most are.”

For those with a turnover above £30,000 who need to use MTD from April 2027, there’s absolutely no advantage to signing up early, advises Soraff. “It’s a lot more admin and cost so landlords should delay as long as possible. That said, they should be prepared by understanding when their obligation commences and how they will manage it when it does.”

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