Making Tax Digital without an accountant: what a landlord can do alone

Yes. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax does not require an accountant. GOV.UK says you, “or your agent if you have one”, will need software that works with it, and that if you use an agent “they can sign you up instead”. Having an agent is a choice, not a condition.

What it does require is software: “HMRC does not provide software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.” So the real question is whether you can keep your own records in that software and send what it prepares. For most landlords whose tax return is mainly rental income, you can.

What you need before you start

• A Self Assessment registration, and a tax return sent in the last 2 years, to sign up yourself
• Your HMRC sign-in: the same user ID and password as for Self Assessment. The sign-in page also offers GOV.UK One Login
• A National Insurance number: GOV.UK says you cannot sign up without one
• Software chosen first: “You should choose your software before you sign up”

LetCompliance is on HMRC’s list for UK property income, with quarterly updates and the tax return ready now. It keeps the records from the rent and costs you record, reads receipts you photograph, imports bank statements, and sends each update when you press send. It is free for one property, or from £7.99 a month with the rest of the let. Get started

The steps, in order

1. 1Choose compatible software. HMRC lists every recognised product, and “HMRC cannot give advice about specific software products”, so compare what each covers.
2. 2Sign up on GOV.UK with your HMRC sign-in. You may be asked for further proof of identity.
3. 3Authorise the software, so it is connected to HMRC. You repeat this every 18 months, without the identity check again.
4. 4Keep digital records of your property income and expenses through the year.
5. 5Send four quarterly updates. They are totals, “summaries, not tax returns”.
6. 6Send the tax return by 31 January after the tax year ends.

For the first year, 2026 to 2027, the quarterly updates are due by 7 August 2026, 7 November 2026, 7 February 2027 and 7 May 2027, and the tax return by 31 January 2028.

Why most landlords can do this themselves

• All your UK lets are one business. GOV.UK: they are “legally treated as one 'UK property business'”, so you do not create separate records for each property in HMRC’s eyes.
• Each update is cumulative. It covers the tax year to date, so a mistake found in July is corrected in the next update rather than by resending the last one.
• Nothing to send is still an update. If a quarter had no income or costs, you still send it, and the software does that in a click.
• HMRC fills in what it knows. At the tax return, “If HMRC has information about your other income sources, we will add them to your tax return for you.”
• Payment dates do not change. You pay tax on the same dates as before.

One detail catches residential landlords out: finance costs, such as mortgage interest, must be recorded in their own category even below the £90,000 turnover threshold, because they get the basic rate tax reduction rather than a deduction.

When an accountant is still worth paying for

• Your return has more than rental income: a pension, dividends, a sale with Capital Gains Tax, or the High Income Child Benefit Charge
• You hold property in a company, which is not in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax at all
• You are unsure of your expenses: what is a repair and what is an improvement, or how finance costs are relieved
• You have had an enquiry from HMRC, or are behind with earlier returns

You can also split the job: keep the records and send the quarterly updates yourself, and pay an accountant to check the tax return once a year. In LetCompliance you can send your accountant a read-only link to the figures, the ledger and the receipts, so they review rather than rebuild.

Exemptions, if software is not possible for you

• £20,000 or less of qualifying income: “You are automatically exempt”
• Digitally excluded: if “your age, health condition or disability stops you from using a computer, tablet or smartphone”, you can apply for an exemption by phone or letter, and HMRC aims to reply within 28 days
• Non-residence pages (SA109) on your return: exempt for 2026 to 2027 only

Being unfamiliar with accounting software is not a reason HMRC accepts.

Penalties in the first year

GOV.UK: “There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.” You still have to send the updates before you can send the tax return, and a late tax return does get a penalty point. From 2027 to 2028, each missed deadline earns a point, and at 4 points there is a £200 penalty for each further miss.

So the first year is the year to learn it yourself. Start with the next update, and use the time before the tax return in January 2028 to get the records into shape.