Landlords unaware of Making Tax Digital start dates

More than half of landlords who should be in Making Tax Digital do not believe they are or do not know when they must join.

Research by August, a property management platform, found the gap six months after the rules took effect for the highest earners.

The survey of 276 landlords compared their understanding of their start dates with their reported gross income from property and self-employment.

Only 35% named the date that applied to them, according to the findings.

Landlords unsure of obligations

Richard Samuel, the firm’s chief executive, said: “The scale of the gap surprised us.

“These are not disengaged landlords.”

He added: “Three-quarters of our respondents own five or more properties and most have been letting for over a decade.

“If half of them don’t know they are already inside the regime, the position among the sector’s smaller landlords is likely to be worse.”

MTD start date confusion

Among respondents reporting income of £50,000 or more, 48% said they were already in MTD, while 44% believed they would start later or fell below the thresholds.

The remaining 8% did not know when they had to begin.

For those in the £30,000 to £49,999 income band, which will need to be signed up by April 2027, only 28% identified that start date, with some landlords believing they had already joined.

Just 11% in the £20,000 to £29,999 band named April 2028 as their starting MTD point, while more than a third did not know the answer.

Quarterly work and records

Three-quarters of landlords said they expect MTD to add at least four hours of work every quarter to comply, and that includes 34% who think they will spend at least a day on it.

For those who confirmed joining MTD, 83% had submitted their first quarterly update on time and 12% said they were late.

For digital record-keeping, 28% leave the task entirely to their accountant, while general accounting software and dedicated landlord software are used by around a quarter each.

Meanwhile, 14% use a spreadsheet with bridging software, and reliance on accountants rises to 42% among landlords who use a letting agent.