Who can do my Making Tax Digital quarterly updates for me as an accidental landlord?

You, or an agent you authorise through HMRC: an accountant, a bookkeeper or a managed service. First check you need MTD at all, because your salary does not count. For 2027 joiners, the first update is due 7 August 2027.

An accidental landlord lets out a home they used to live in. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) asks for four quarterly updates a year, sent from compatible software, then a tax return. In our reading, HMRC does not control who prepares the figures, only who sends them for you. This page follows GOV.UK as checked on 18 October 2026.

First, check you need updates at all

Qualifying income is your rent, or your share of it, plus any self-employed turnover, before expenses. Wages, dividends and pensions are left out. GOV.UK says qualifying income of £20,000 or less is an automatic exemption.

The table assumes you were not over £50,000 in 2024-25. If this let is your only UK property and it started part-way through the year, in our reading your accounting period was shorter than 12 months, and GOV.UK says landlords then scale their rent up to a full year themselves. If you already let other UK property all year, in our reading nothing is scaled up. A let of more than about £1,667 a month, as your only qualifying income, could bring you in from April 2028, when the line drops to £20,000.

Your options as an accidental landlord

You can have one main agent and any number of supporting agents. GOV.UK says an agent who already handles your Self Assessment can bring that authorisation across, and HMRC then treats them as your main agent for MTD.

If you have never sent a tax return

The MTD sign-up service needs you to be registered for Self Assessment and to have sent a tax return in the last 2 years. Someone who started letting recently registers by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which the rent started. An agent can do this with you, but in our reading the first return comes before the MTD sign-up.

What an accidental landlord's agent needs from you

• Your letting agent's statements, monthly or quarterly. GOV.UK says income is recorded at its full amount, so the rent the agent collected goes in as income and its fees as an expense, not as a smaller rent.
• Mortgage statements, so interest is kept as its own record and sent separately from other expenses in each update.
• Repair, insurance and certificate invoices for the let.
• The date the let started, and whether you own the home alone or jointly.
• Your 2024-25 and 2025-26 rent totals, to confirm your start date.

If your turnover is under £90,000, each item only needs to be marked as income or expense, but mortgage interest is still recorded and sent separately.

What any agent must have

• An HMRC agent services account. An agent needs one to sign clients up for MTD. HMRC now requires most people paid to deal with it about someone else's tax to register through this account, and is bringing the rule in by stages.
• Money-laundering supervision for tax work, by HMRC or another supervisory body.
• Your authorisation, not your password. A new agent sends a link and you accept it with your own HMRC sign-in.

What this means for you

If your 2025-26 qualifying income was over £30,000, and not over £50,000 in 2024-25, you start on 6 April 2027. Your first update covers 6 April to 5 July 2027 (or 1 April to 30 June) and is due by 7 August 2027. If you must use MTD, a late tax return earns a penalty point from your first MTD year, and a late update from 2027-28, or from 2028-29 if you join in April 2027, as the 28 October 2026 Budget said; 4 points brings a £200 penalty.

If you move back in or sell while in MTD, and the let was your only qualifying income, GOV.UK says to tell HMRC the date the rent stopped by that quarter's update deadline, and send the final update. After that tax year you do not need MTD. Agree who will do that. Whoever you choose, you stay responsible for your tax.

If you would rather hand it over, our Landlord Tax plan is £15 a month including VAT for 1 to 2 properties, in England. We keep the records from your rent account and agent statements, and send the updates and your tax return once you confirm the figures. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete. Until then you can join the waitlist, and no payment is taken.

Steps to hand over your updates

1. Use the free MTD check with your share of the rent, scaled to a full year if it is your only let and started part-way through the year.
2. If you are under the line, keep filing your tax return as normal and check again each year.
3. If you have never sent a return, register for Self Assessment first.
4. Ask any agent you consider whether it has an HMRC agent services account and money-laundering supervision.
5. Agree whether it will be your main agent, which includes the tax return, or a supporting agent for the updates only.
6. Get the fee in writing, including VAT, and accept the authorisation request through HMRC.
7. Ask your letting agent for monthly or quarterly statements, and pass them on as they arrive.

The accidental landlord sign-up guide explains the test in more detail. There are more guides in the landlord section.