How joint ownership works under MTD
For tax purposes, all UK properties you own are treated as one UK property business. If you own a property jointly with another person, you each have a share of that business.
You do not file a joint return. Each owner reports their own share of the income and expenses. The split is usually based on the legal ownership shares, but it can differ if there is a formal declaration of unequal shares.
Your qualifying income for MTD is the total income from self-employment and property before expenses. For a joint property, this is your share of the gross rental income, not the whole property's income.
Checking if you need to use MTD
You must use MTD for Income Tax if your qualifying income is more than 50,000 pounds in 2024-25, from 6 April 2026.
The threshold drops to more than 30,000 pounds in 2025-26, from 6 April 2027.
It drops again to more than 20,000 pounds in 2026-27, from 6 April 2028.
The threshold is tested as MORE than the figure. If your share of the income is exactly 50,000 pounds, you are not over the threshold.
Qualifying income is taken from the tax return submitted in the previous tax year. You add self-employment income and property income together before testing the threshold.
- Employment income through PAYE is not counted.
- A partnership share as an individual partner is not counted.
- Dividends, State and private pensions are not counted.
- Qualifying care relief is not counted.
- Basis period reform transition profits are not counted.
- One-off transactions in UK land in a single tax year are not counted.
Sending quarterly updates for your share
You must send four quarterly updates each year. These are summaries of your income and expenses, not a full tax return.
Each update covers a specific period and shows totals by category. The figures must be cumulative from 6 April.
You must send an update even if there was no income and no expenses in that period.
For joint properties, you enter only your share of the rent received and your share of the expenses paid. Do not enter the full amount for the property if you only own half.
| Period ending | Deadline |
|---|---|
| 5 July | 7 August |
| 5 October | 7 November |
| 5 January | 7 February |
| 5 April | 7 May |
The fourth update may need resending for joint property expenses, or Rent-a-Room relief claimed after the tax year ends, before tax adjustments are made.
Digital records and software
You must keep digital records for your share of the income and expenses. A digital record is a record created and stored in compatible software.
Once a record has been sent to HMRC in a quarterly update, it must not be moved by hand. You cannot write it out in another cell or another product, and you cannot use cut and paste or copy and paste.
You can use more than one product, but only one product for each separate submission. The records must be digitally linked between them.
HMRC does not provide software. You must use compatible software that creates and stores digital records, works with your accounting period, and sends the quarterly updates.
What happens if your partner is also in business
If your partner is also a landlord or sole trader, they have their own MTD obligations. They must sign up separately and send their own quarterly updates.
You do not need to coordinate your software with theirs, but you must agree on the split of income and expenses to ensure your figures match the legal ownership shares.
If you are both in business together as a partnership, this is different. Partnerships are not in scope for MTD ITSA yet, with no date published. You would continue with Self Assessment for the partnership income.
Penalties for missing deadlines
You get one penalty point for each missed submission deadline. The threshold is 4 points, then a 200 pound penalty, then a further 200 pound penalty each time another submission deadline is missed.
Only one point is applied per deadline, even if you have several businesses or several late updates.
For 2026-27, there are no penalty points for missing a quarterly update deadline. Points still apply to the tax return deadline, and digital records and updates are still required.
Below the threshold, each point is removed automatically 24 months after the missed deadline.