MTD for jointly owned property: what each owner sends

Yes, but it applies to people, not to properties. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is decided for each individual from their own qualifying income. Two people who own a rental property together can be in different positions: one may need to use MTD from April 2026 while the other does not need it yet, or at all.

You must use MTD if you are registered for Self Assessment, you have self-employment or property income, and your qualifying income is more than the threshold. The thresholds are more than £50,000 from 6 April 2026, more than £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and more than £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Each is tested on an earlier tax return.

This article is about property you own and let jointly with someone else. If you are a partner in a partnership, different rules apply. Partnerships are not in MTD yet, and your share of partnership profit does not count towards your qualifying income.

Qualifying income is your total self-employment and property income before expenses, taken from the tax return for the relevant earlier year. For a jointly let property, HMRC says your share of the property income counts towards your qualifying income. The other owner’s share does not.

There is one exception to the before-expenses rule. If you only receive notice of your share of the income after expenses have been deducted, for example from a letting agent, HMRC assesses that net figure.

Your share of rent is added to any other self-employment or property income you have. Employment income, dividends and pensions do not count towards qualifying income at all.

Married couples and civil partners who live together are usually taxed on jointly owned property in equal shares. If you own the property in unequal shares and want to be taxed on your actual shares, you need to tell HMRC using Form 17.

Other joint owners, such as siblings or friends, are taxed by their share of ownership unless they agree a different split. Whatever split applies for tax is the share you use for qualifying income, digital records and quarterly updates.

Under MTD, all your UK properties form one UK property business. HMRC says your share of any jointly let properties also forms part of that business. Your share is not a separate business, so you do not send a separate quarterly update for it.

If you own one flat outright and half of a house with your sister, both go into the same UK property business. Your quarterly update for UK property covers the whole flat plus your half of the house. Foreign property is a separate foreign property business.

You only need digital records for your share of the income and expenses from jointly let properties. HMRC also allows less detail for jointly let property than for property you own on your own, as the list below shows.

Your records do not need to be digitally linked to the other landlord’s records. Each of you can keep your own records in your own software.

• Record only your share of income and expenses.
• You may record one entry per income category for each update period, instead of every rent payment.
• You may record one entry per expense category for the whole year.
• You may leave expenses for jointly let properties out of your quarterly updates and add them after the tax year ends.
• Properties you own on your own still need full income and expense records in the usual way.

You send quarterly updates for your UK property business, and each update covers the tax year to date from 6 April (or 1 April if you chose calendar update periods). HMRC’s standard deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Your own deadlines come from HMRC and show in your software and your HMRC account.

For jointly let properties you can send your share of the income only during the year. If you choose not to include the expenses, you must report them after the end of the tax year. You do that by resending your fourth quarterly update with the expenses added, before you submit your tax return.

If your UK property turnover is less than £90,000, HMRC’s simpler categorisation lets you send total income and total expenses, and HMRC says this also applies if you jointly let a property. Residential landlords must still keep finance costs separate. Conditions apply, so check the Create digital records guidance.

Mortgage interest and other finance costs on a residential let are not an expense for individual landlords. Since 6 April 2020, relief is a tax reduction at the basic rate. Each owner records their own share of the finance costs on the residential finance costs line, separate from other expenses.

Only the interest part of a mortgage payment counts as a finance cost, never the capital repayment. Interest on loans for non-residential property stays an allowable expense.

Each joint owner can use the £1,000 property allowance against their share of the gross rent. If you use it, you cannot also claim expenses or the finance cost tax reduction for that income. Compare the two before you decide.

Two fictional friends own a let house in equal shares. On their 2024 to 2025 tax returns, the house brought in £30,000 of rent. Owner A also runs a sole trade with turnover of £40,000. Owner B has a salaried job and no other self-employment or property income.

Owner A’s qualifying income is £15,000 of rent plus £40,000 of turnover, which is £55,000. That is more than £50,000, so Owner A uses MTD from 6 April 2026. Owner B’s qualifying income is £15,000, because the salary does not count. That is £20,000 or less, so Owner B is exempt for now.

Most problems come from treating the property as one unit instead of two shares. Check these before your first quarterly update.

In SimpleTaxFlow, jointly owned property is recorded in Money. There you enter the full amounts for the whole property, and SimpleTaxFlow applies the ownership share set for that property, so your update shows only your share. Do not enter your share yourself, or it would be reduced twice. The CSV import is for self-employment and sole-owned UK property.

• Counting the whole rent, not your share, when you work out qualifying income.
• Sending a separate quarterly update for the jointly let property. It belongs in your one UK property business.
• Leaving joint-let expenses out of the quarterly updates and then forgetting to add them by resending the fourth update.
• Deducting mortgage interest as an expense instead of recording it as a finance cost.
• Assuming both owners must join MTD at the same time. Each owner’s qualifying income decides.
• Entering only your share in software that already applies your ownership share, so the figure is reduced twice. Check whether your software expects the whole-property amount or your share.

Tax rules can change and your circumstances matter. Use HMRC’s current guidance to confirm what applies to you.