FeaturesLandlord tax
Let Property Campaign: putting undeclared rent right with HMRC
If you have rental income HMRC has not been told about, the Let Property Campaign is its route to disclose it yourself: notify first, then 90 days to send the disclosure and the payment. Once it is settled, LetCompliance keeps the records that stop it happening again: rent and costs by property and tax year, the SA105 figures and Making Tax Digital.
- From HMRC’s own guide
- Checked 8 October 2026
- Penalty ranges from the statute
How it works
- 01Gather the figures
- 02Notify HMRC
- 03Work out what is owed
- 04Disclose and pay within 90 days
- 05Register for Self Assessment
The short answer
What is the Let Property Campaign?
HMRC’s Let Property Campaign is for landlords who owe tax on letting out residential property in the UK or abroad. It covers individual landlords with one property or several, a room let above the Rent a Room threshold, holiday lets, landlords living abroad and inherited property. It does not cover non-residential property, or income disclosed for a company or a trust.
It works in two steps. You tell HMRC you will be making a disclosure, through its online service for telling HMRC about underpaid tax from previous years. Then you have 90 days from HMRC’s acknowledgement to send the full disclosure, with the tax, the interest and any penalty paid at the same time.
How far back you go depends on why the income was not declared: up to 4 years where you took reasonable care, up to 6 years where you were careless, and up to 20 years where it was deliberate or you never registered for Self Assessment. HMRC says it expects most people to pay for a maximum of 6 years.
Coming forward first usually means lower penalties than being found. If HMRC has already told you it is opening an enquiry or a check, a campaign disclosure is unlikely to be accepted, and you deal with the person running the enquiry instead.
What it does
Three things that decide what it costs.
Notify, then 90 days
Tell HMRC you will disclose, then send the disclosure and the payment within 90 days of its acknowledgement. If you cannot pay in full, speak to HMRC before you submit anything.
Penalties fall when you come forward
A penalty is a percentage of the tax that was lost, set by your behaviour, and an unprompted disclosure starts lower. Where you took reasonable care, there is no penalty at all.
Interest from the due date
HMRC charges interest daily from the date the tax was due until it is paid, and a disclosure that leaves the interest out is rejected.
In detail
The penalty ranges
A percentage of the tax lost, from HMRC factsheets CC/FS7a and CC/FS11 (Finance Act 2007 Schedule 24, Finance Act 2008 Schedule 41). In a campaign disclosure you work the penalty out yourself.
- Careless
- Unprompted 0 to 30%; prompted 15 to 30%.
- Deliberate
- Unprompted 20 to 70%; prompted 35 to 70%.
- Deliberate and concealed
- Unprompted 30 to 100%; prompted 50 to 100%.
- Never told HMRC about the income
- Failure to notify, not deliberate: 0 to 30% unprompted if HMRC learns within 12 months, 10 to 30% after that; prompted, 10 to 30% or 20 to 30%.
- Income or property abroad
- Higher ranges apply to offshore income, up to 200%.
- Left a long time
- Where tax has gone unpaid for a significant period, normally over 3 years, HMRC is unlikely to reduce the penalty by more than 10 points above the minimum.
Step by step
Making the disclosure
- Step 1
Gather the figures
Rent received and allowable costs for each year you need to cover, property by property.
- Step 2
Notify HMRC
Use HMRC’s online service to say you will make a disclosure. You will need to sign in.
- Step 3
Work out what is owed
For each year, the tax due, the interest from the due date and the penalty for your behaviour.
- Step 4
Disclose and pay within 90 days
Send the disclosure and the payment together, by the deadline in HMRC’s acknowledgement.
- Step 5
Register for Self Assessment
If you are not registered, register now. This year’s income goes on your next tax return, not in the disclosure.
The difference
After the disclosure: records that keep it right
By hand
In LetCompliance
Rent arriving in a bank account, nothing written down
Rent recorded against each tenancy, by tax year
Receipts lost by the time a return is due
Receipts photographed and read into your expenses
Working out years later what was earned
The SA105 figures ready at the year end, on paid plans
Unsure whether Making Tax Digital applies
Your start date from your income, and the quarterly updates sent from the same records
Notify HMRC first, then disclose and pay within 90 days of its acknowledgement. Where you took reasonable care, HMRC says you will not pay any penalty. Checked against HMRC, Let Property Campaign: your guide to making a disclosure (updated 6 April 2026) on 8 October 2026. This is not legal advice.
Same account
The tax side of the let, kept as you go.
Rent, costs and the return figures sit on the same properties.
See every feature- Making Tax Digital, recognised by HMRC
- SA105 Tax Pack and Section 24 on paid plans
- Receipts read into your expenses
- A read-only link for your accountant
- Rent tracked against every tenancy
- A 0 to 100 compliance score for every property
Questions
Let Property Campaign questions, answered
Is the Let Property Campaign still open?
HMRC’s guide, last updated on 6 April 2026, gives no closing date (checked 8 October 2026). Check GOV.UK before you notify.
How many years of undeclared rental income do I need to disclose?
Up to 4 years where you took reasonable care, up to 6 where you were careless, and up to 20 where it was deliberate or you never registered for Self Assessment (Taxes Management Act 1970, sections 34 and 36). HMRC says it expects most people to pay for a maximum of 6 years. Years still due on a normal tax return go on that return instead.
What penalty will I pay?
It depends on why the income was not declared and whether you came forward before HMRC found it: from nothing where you took reasonable care, to up to 30% for careless, 70% for deliberate and 100% for deliberate and concealed, and up to 200% for offshore income. You work it out yourself in the disclosure. This is general information from HMRC’s guidance, not tax advice.
What if HMRC has already contacted me?
If HMRC has told you it is opening an enquiry or a compliance check, a campaign disclosure is unlikely to be accepted: tell the person running the enquiry instead. HMRC says a full and early disclosure still influences the penalty. It also says it cannot offer immunity from prosecution, though a complete, unprompted disclosure generally points to a civil rather than a criminal investigation.
Can I pay in instalments?
HMRC expects the payment with the disclosure. If you cannot pay in full, its guide says not to submit the disclosure or the payment until you have spoken to HMRC.
Can LetCompliance make the disclosure for me?
No. The disclosure is made to HMRC through its online service, by you or an adviser. What LetCompliance does is keep the records from then on: rent and costs by property and tax year, the SA105 figures on paid plans, Making Tax Digital, and a read-only link for your accountant.
UK-built · Founder-led · GOV.UK-cited
Built by a landlord, for landlords.
I let property myself, so I know what it costs to juggle an agent, a spreadsheet and a handful of reminder apps just to stay on the right side of the law. LetCompliance puts all of it behind one login: advertise the property, take applications, collect the rent, and keep every certificate and notice in order, each taken straight from GOV.UK.
