HMRC’s Making Tax Digital software list, counted: which ones send your tax return?

HMRC publishes a finder listing every product that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It does not rank them: “HMRC does not recommend any specific product”, and the results are “shown in random order for fairness”. So the finder tells you what exists, not what fits.

To see what a landlord actually has to choose from, every product page on the finder was read on 6 October 2026, and the counts were checked against the finder’s own filters. The short version:

• 165 products are on the list
• 128 handle UK property income for an individual landlord
• 84 of those 128 show the tax return as ready now; 32 show it in development and 12 do not include it
• 32 have a free version, and 22 have both a free version and the tax return ready now
• Only 11 are built for UK property income alone, with no sole trader or foreign property income

Why the tax return line matters

Quarterly updates are only half of Making Tax Digital. After the fourth update you still finalise the year: the tax return, sent through software instead of HMRC’s old online form. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the first year of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, that is due by 31 January 2028.

Every product on the list sends quarterly updates. Not every one sends the return. HMRC marks the return as Ready now, In development or Not included, and defines In development as “committed to building this in time for the 2026 to 2027 tax return”. A product marked Not included will send your quarters but not finish your year.

LetCompliance is one of the 84: HMRC lists it with quarterly updates and the tax return ready now for UK property income, a free version, and ready for users with vision, hearing, motor and cognitive accessibility needs. Plans with the rest of the let, from adverts to Section 8, start at £7.99 a month. Get started

The numbers

All counts are from HMRC’s finder on 6 October 2026, among the 128 products that are ready now for UK property income and for individuals.

Of the 83 without all four accessibility needs, one meets two of them. By type, 23 are bridging software only (they send figures you keep in a spreadsheet), 56 create the digital records themselves, and 49 do both. Eleven more products handle UK property income but only for agents filing for clients, so they are not in the 128.

What “tax return ready now” does not tell you

The tax return line covers the income each product supports. Your return may need more: bank interest, dividends, a pension, Capital Gains, the High Income Child Benefit Charge. HMRC’s finder lists 16 of these other income types and items for each product, and the coverage varies a lot:

• Of the 84 products with the tax return ready now, 42 have at least one of those 16 items ready now, and only 11 have all 16
• 4 have none of the 16, even as In development

So check the items you need, not only the headline. LetCompliance is built for landlords whose return is UK property income: UK interest and UK dividends are In development on its listing, and the other 14 items are not included. If your return has more than rental income, its Making Tax Digital page tells you to finish that year with software that covers the rest.

The 11 built for landlords alone

These are the products HMRC lists for UK property income without sole trader or foreign property income, which in practice means landlord software. On 6 October 2026:

Four of the eleven show the tax return ready now. LetCompliance is the only one of the eleven that HMRC lists with all three: the tax return ready now, a free version and all four accessibility needs.

Broader products used by landlords are on the list too, with the tax return ready now: Hammock for landlords, Landlord Vision, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage Sole Trader & Landlord, Coconut and Pandle among them. Most also handle sole trader income, which matters if you have both.

“Free version” is not the same as free

HMRC’s card shows either “Free version” or “Paid version”, never both, and it tells you to check each company’s website for its pricing. A free version can be limited to one property, a number of transactions, or the quarterly updates without the return. Read what the free version covers before you plan the year around it.

LetCompliance’s free version covers one property, when it is the only property in the account, with the quarterly updates and the tax return included. Paid plans start at £7.99 a month for one property with the rest of the let, and £14.99 for up to three.

How to check your own software

1. 1Open HMRC’s finder from the GOV.UK page “Find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax”.
2. 2Choose to check whether your current software is compatible and pick it from the list, or answer the questions about your income and accounting period.
3. 3On the product’s page, read the tax return line and the other income and items you need.
4. 4If the tax return shows In development, ask the company when it will be ready; if it shows Not included, plan which product will finish your year before January 2028.

How these counts were made: every product page on HMRC’s finder (165 products) was read on 6 October 2026, and the landlord route on the finder (UK property only, 6 April to 5 April) returned the same 128 products. The free version, accessibility and software type counts match the finder’s own filters. The list changes as products are added, so check the finder itself before you choose.