How do I submit a quarterly update to HMRC as a landlord?

Your software adds up your rent and costs into category totals for the tax year so far and sends them as one UK property update. If you join in April 2027, the first is due by 7 August 2027.

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD), a landlord's quarterly update is a summary, not a tax return, and HMRC does not receive your individual receipts or invoices in it. This page covers an individual landlord letting property in the UK. The law behind MTD for Income Tax applies across the UK, so the rules here are the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It follows HMRC's quarterly update direction and GOV.UK's guidance, checked on 17 October 2026. The deadlines page has every period and due date.

One update for all your UK lets

GOV.UK says that all your UK properties are legally one "UK property business". You do not need separate records or separate updates for each property. Your software adds every let into one update, including your share of any jointly owned property. A flat abroad is different: it belongs to a foreign property business, which has its own update.

What a UK property update contains

HMRC's quarterly update direction lists what must be sent: the period start date, the period end date, and a total for each of these categories.

Each total runs from 6 April to the end of the period, so your second update covers six months, not three. HMRC's developer documentation for software makers has a field for each of these categories, plus the period dates.

The simpler option under £90,000

If your total UK property turnover is under £90,000, GOV.UK lets you categorise records in less detail for the tax year. You record whether each item is income or an expense. HMRC's record-keeping direction says you then send a total for income and a total for expenses. Separately, HMRC's developer documentation shows software can send a single "consolidated expenses" figure in place of the separate expense lines.

There is one catch for residential landlords. Mortgage interest and other residential finance costs must still be kept as a separate record and sent separately from your other expenses, even under the simpler option. If your turnover reaches £90,000 during the year, every record for the year must be fully categorised before your next update will go. GOV.UK suggests full categories from the start if you might get close.

Agent statements

An agent who collects rent usually pays you the rent less their fees and any bills they paid. GOV.UK's MTD guidance says that if you only know your income after expenses, you ask for the full amount and make one record for the income and one for the expenses. HMRC's notes for the UK property tax return put management fees paid to an agent for rent collection, advertising and administration under legal, management and other professional fees. In our reading, a typical statement splits like this:

• the gross rent goes to total rent
• the agent's management fee goes to legal, management and other professional fees
• a repair the agent arranged goes to property repairs and maintenance
• a gas safety certificate goes to other allowable property expenses

If you co-own a let, you record only your share, and you can send income only until the year ends. The joint owner guide explains how.

A worked example

A landlord owns two houses on her own, one let directly and one through an agent. Her rent is £2,050 a month, well under £90,000, so she uses the simpler option. Her second update covers 6 April to 5 October 2027 and is due by 7 November 2027.

The figures assume rent arrives on time each month. This is an example only.

What this means for you

If your rent is your main business, the work is in the records, not the sending. Keep the gross rent and each cost from every property and agent statement, with mortgage interest kept apart. Your software turns them into the update. If you are under £90,000, the simpler option means fewer categories to choose, but in our reading full categories make year-end adjustments easier, because each cost is already in its place.

Steps to send your update as a landlord

1. Collect each agent statement and your bank entries for the period. Record gross rent and each cost with its amount, date and category.
2. Keep mortgage interest and other residential finance costs as their own record.
3. If your UK property turnover is under £90,000, decide whether to use full categories or the simpler income-and-expense option for the tax year.
4. After the period ends, check that the year-to-date totals match your statements, with nothing missing and nothing counted twice.
5. Send the update from your software by the deadline, even for a quarter with no rent or costs. Your HMRC online account then shows "You sent a quarterly update".
6. If you find a mistake later, correct the record. Your next update carries the corrected totals.
7. After the fourth update, make any year-end adjustments, such as removing costs you cannot claim, then submit your tax return in your software by 31 January after the tax year ends.

If you spot an error after the fourth update, GOV.UK says to resend the fourth update before making tax adjustments, or to adjust the category total and update your records. The free MTD check shows when MTD starts for you, and the landlord section has more guides.