The short answer
Each joint owner who sends updates through SimpleTaxFlow uses their own account and HMRC sign-in. Include your share of jointly let UK property in the same quarterly update as any UK property you own alone. The other owner sends their own update if Making Tax Digital applies to them.
What you need
Each owner who sends updates through SimpleTaxFlow uses their own account, connects their own HMRC sign-in and sends their own share of the rent and costs. Each owner who sends to HMRC needs their own plan at £30.00 + VAT a year or £3.50 + VAT a month. Keeping records is free.
HMRC works out whether Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to each owner separately. Your qualifying income includes your share of the joint property income and any other qualifying income you have.
Use this spreadsheet upload for UK property only. HMRC treats overseas property as a separate business.
- An email address for your own SimpleTaxFlow account
- Your own HMRC sign-in
- Spreadsheet records and linked totals for your share of the rent and costs
1. Set up your own account
Sign up with your own email address and connect your own HMRC account. The other owner can set up their account independently.
Set up your account2. Work out your share in your spreadsheet
Include your share of the gross rent before expenses and your share of the costs for jointly let UK property. Include the full amounts for UK property you own alone. If your records show whole-property amounts, use a formula to work out your share. You can upload without setting up individual properties in SimpleTaxFlow.
See the UK property template lines3. Open your update in Tax
Find your UK property business in Tax and choose Check update beside the next update to send. If you keep records to 31 March, use View or change update periods to choose calendar periods before sending your first update of the tax year.
Open Tax4. Answer the turnover question if it appears
In Check your figures, under Expenses, choose No, use Simple or Yes, use Detailed. Use gross turnover for the whole UK property business, including your share of joint lets. If the buttons are absent and Detailed appears beside Expenses, use the expense category lines.
Read about Simple and Detailed5. Download the template and link your totals
Choose Download the template. Use formulas to link each line to your records from the start date shown under Check your figures through the date the file covers. That start is usually 6 April for standard periods or 1 April for calendar periods. For your second update, include the first period’s figures as well. Keep the template line names and save it as CSV.
Fill in the spreadsheet template6. Upload spreadsheet
In Figures up to, enter the last date covered by the file, then choose Upload spreadsheet. The upload replaces your saved spreadsheet totals for that business and tax year and refreshes Check your figures. Upload before every Submit, even when the figures are unchanged.
Read the upload guide7. Check your figures and send
Check Income, Expenses and Profit. If you need a plan, choose Unlock and submit and pay. When your plan is active, tick both confirmations and choose Submit Q1 update, or the quarter shown. Keep the receipt after HMRC accepts the update.
Read the quarterly sending guideExample of two owners using Simple
Alex and Jo are fictional landlords who own two UK flats equally. For their first standard update, the flats bring in £12,000 in gross rent. They have £2,400 in allowable expenses and £1,600 in residential mortgage interest.
Each owner links the three lines below to their own half of the totals. Keep Residential Finance Costs separate from Total Expenses on Simple and Detailed. On Detailed, use the expense category lines in place of the single Total Expenses figure.
| CSV line | Both flats | Alex’s file | Jo’s file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent Income | £12,000 | £6,000 | £6,000 |
| Total Expenses | £2,400 | £1,200 | £1,200 |
| Residential Finance Costs | £1,600 | £800 | £800 |
Sending income only for joint lets
You can choose to leave out expenses for jointly let property during the year. Include the costs for UK property you own alone in every update.
After the year ends, choose Review update on your fourth update. Send it again with the full-year figures, including the joint-let expenses you left out. Do this before making annual adjustments and submitting your tax return.
Correcting figures
Fix the source spreadsheet. Your next cumulative update will include the correction. To send the correction sooner, choose Review update on the latest update HMRC accepted. Upload the corrected totals from the start of the year through the cutoff for that update, check them and submit the quarter again. The upload refreshes your draft. HMRC receives it when you submit.
If you have sent your fourth update, resend it with the corrected figures before making annual adjustments. If you have already submitted your tax return, use the tax return amendment route.
Using Bookkeeping as well
Use Bookkeeping for records from the day after Figures up to. When the amount choice appears for jointly owned property, choose Whole property if the amount covers the whole property, or My share if the amount is already yours.
If you have no jointly owned property set up for this business, enter only your share of each jointly let property. Bookkeeping uses the amount as entered. The update combines the later Bookkeeping records with the spreadsheet totals.
Before you move on
- Check the tax year and business and include totals from the start of the year.
- Include your share of each joint let and the full amounts for any UK lets you own alone.
- Check the figures before sending and keep your own receipt.
- £30.00 + VAT a year or £3.50 + VAT a month. Bookkeeping is free. Pay when you send to HMRC.
Frequently asked questions
What does the other joint owner need to do?
They can follow the same steps in their own account and report the share that applies to them. Each owner can keep their own digital records and send independently.
Do both joint owners need Making Tax Digital?
HMRC works this out separately for each person. One owner may need to use it while the other does not. Each owner’s qualifying income includes their share of the rent and any other qualifying property or self-employment income.
Do we each need a plan?
Each owner who sends updates through SimpleTaxFlow uses their own account, connects their own HMRC sign-in and sends their own share of the rent and costs. Each owner who sends to HMRC needs their own plan at £30.00 + VAT a year or £3.50 + VAT a month. Keeping records is free.
Can we use the same email address?
Use a separate email address for each SimpleTaxFlow account. Each owner signs in to their own account and connects their own HMRC sign-in.
Check the official rules
Tax rules can change and individual circumstances matter. Use HMRC’s current guidance to confirm the treatment that applies to you.
Put the guide into practice.
Open the relevant workspace and complete the next step with this guide available in another tab.
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