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Jointly owned properties and MTD

Unincorporated landlords who had combined property and trading income in 2024/25 of £50,000 or more must comply with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD for ITSA) from 6 April 2026. This requires them to keep digital records and make quarterly returns and a final declaration to HMRC using MTD-compatible software.

Where landlords jointly own a property, there are some points to note.

Working out qualifying income

A landlord is only within MTD from 6 April 2026 if their combined property and trading income (before the deduction of expenses) is £50,000 or more in 2024/25

Where a landlord receives income from a jointly owned property, they only need take account of their share of the income from that property in working out their qualifying income. For example, if two brothers jointly owned a house in respect of which rental income of £20,000 was received in 2025/26 which was shared equally, each brother will need to take into account income of £10,000 in working out their qualifying income.

Digital records

Under MTD for ITSA a landlord must keep digital records of their income and expenses. Where a landlord receives income from a jointly owned property, they only need to keep digital records for their share of the income and expenses.

Landlords with income from jointly owned property can choose to simplify their record-keeping by creating less detailed digital records for the jointly let properties. This means creating a single digital record for each category of property income received in an update period and creating a single digital record for each category of property expenses incurred in a tax year. For example, where the landlord receives rent of £1,000, they can either create a digital record for each monthly rent payment or a single digital record of £3,000 for the rent received in the quarterly update period.

Reporting easement

MTD for ITSA requires landlords within its scope to make quarterly returns on property income and expenses using MTD-compatible software.

However, to simplify matters, where a landlord receives income from a jointly owned property, an easement applies under which the landlord can opt not to include expenses that relate to a jointly let property in their quarterly update. Instead, this information is finalised at the end of the tax year.

03/02/2026