Landlords won’t be forced into Making Tax Digital – claims impact assessment

I use Vital Tax bridging software for VAT in allows me to input figures direct from my excel spreadsheet and then submit it to HMRC. I believe they have/are working on a MTD version, I was on their original trial a few years ago when MTD first raised its head and it was going to be all landlords but then pulled out when they brought in the £50K requirement. Their MTD bridging software works in a similar way to their VAT, the big change I had to make was keeping my accounts updated every quarter and submitting the quarter figures. Although these quarter figures are only provisional and can be amended when you submit the year end numbers. VAT bridging software only cost £12 a year so not a big deal, it just needs you to keep up to date on your accounts and not leave them until you do your SA for the tax year end.

Reply to the comment left by Duncan Horncastle at 13/09/2025 – 10:53
Good to know – I have just spoken to HMRC re software via their chat – the poor agent was really put on the spot and did not have an answer for me despite their best efforts but they did say “A wide variety of Making Tax Digital compatible software products will be available soon. Some will include free options, most will offer a range of features with different price ranges. HMRC will publish a list on GOV.UK shortly to help customers choose which software best suits their needs” I asked about a timeline but the agent could not be more specific….. I asked them to pass my comments to management because Landlords are very confused about this whole matter and the agent said they would….

Reply to the comment left by Simon Lever – Chartered Accountant helping clients get the best returns from their properties at 10/09/2025 – 12:57
We have the same situation, my wife has soem properties in her sole name and 4 we own jointly. Making it my wife qualifies for MTD at the moment but I don’t. However after contacting our accountant he is enquiring whether I can join now making it easier all round.

Reply to the comment left by Jennifer Adams at 13/09/2025 – 08:11
This is what our accountant has told us, we can carry on using spread sheet providing we save them as a csv file and email them along with additional paperwork to him.
My wife used to use Wave accounting package which she like and you can gernerate invoices/reaccuring invoices. Our accountant uses MYOB (Mind your own business) and has done so for 20+years

what do you do with the actual physical receipts in MTD? i usually give these to my accountant, all listed and accounted for. So will i have give in receipts 4 times a year to my accountant?

Reply to the comment left by clarkydaz at 13/09/2025 – 13:52
Our accountant says scanned documents are fine. He is also saying to keep a seperate bank account for property income/outgoings making it seperate form personal income. Obviously if you have numerous properties but LL withonly one or two might not be so keen in doing this. Also he is suggesting to email a csv download of the transactions in a single file for easch account. Oh what fun, but what for?

i see so the receipts have to be scanned instead of the actual physical receipt? i have a few old terraces so always spending bits n bobs on them. Fantastic

Good idea on the seperate accounts for rental income though, that makes sense

Reply to the comment left by clarkydaz at 13/09/2025 – 14:09
I would speak to your accountant to see how they want receipts sent through. We will probably upload into one file per property and send them across that way.

Reply to the comment left by Jakjak at 10/09/2025 – 16:02
Have a look at Patma

I think there’s something that’s been missed in this post. The post says:

“The government confirm they will keep the decision on whether to mandate businesses and landlords with income below £30,000 to use MTD for ITSA under review.”

If I remember correctly, this bit of control-freakery said £50,000 for the 2024-25 year, £30,000 for the 2025-26 year, and £20,000 for the 2026-27 year. But that’s for TOTAL INCOME FROM PROPERTY AND SOLE-TRADERS, EG. THE SELF-EMPLOYED.

Historically if you were a self-employed sole-trader you could submit your accounts in January and pay the tax. You had to pay some money on account half-way through the year but it gave you extra time to get your affairs in order. There wasn’t necessarily a cash flow advantage because you had to pay money on account. The system just reduced the regulatory burden.

The link to the page on gov.uk is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extension-of-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-self-assessment-to-sole-traders-and-landlords/making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-self-assessment-for-sole-traders-and-landlords#:~:text=Building%20on%20the%20successful%20introduction,be%20mandated%20from%20April%202027.

The text on the link says:

“In March 2025, the government set out plans to lower the income threshold. From 6 April 2028, sole traders and landlords with a qualifying income over £20,000 in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.”

So that’s £20,000 a year then….for total income from property and sole-trading…. probably having to submit four times a year.

This government really doesn’t like business does it? No wonder it’s not getting economic growth.