Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, a landlord must keep a digital record of each property income and expense, in software that works with the service. Each record needs three things: the amount, the date, and a category matching Self Assessment. Your receipts, invoices and bank statements can stay as they are, on paper or as copies; it is the record of each transaction that has to be digital. You keep the records for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year.
This guide covers what a digital record must contain, what counts as property income and expenses, the easements for joint owners and smaller landlords, how long to keep everything, and how to fix mistakes. It follows GOV.UK's guidance on creating digital records.
What a digital record is
A digital record is a record of one income or expense, created and stored using software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. It needs:
- the amount;
- the date the income was received or the expense was incurred;
- the category, which depends on the type of business. The categories are the same as in Self Assessment.
You only need digital records for self-employment and property income and expenses. Dividends, savings interest, pensions and a share of partnership profit do not need digital records, although you can add some of them if your software supports it, which gives a fuller tax estimate during the year. The digital records glossary entry has the short version.
What can stay on paper
Keeping digital records does not mean scanning every receipt. GOV.UK says to keep records as you normally would for Self Assessment, including the original records or supporting documents, or copies of them, such as bank statements and invoices. The digital part is the line in your software for each transaction. The paperwork behind it can stay in a folder.
What landlords record
Property income includes rent, lease premiums, reverse premiums and inducements.
Property expenses include rent you pay, repairs, maintenance and other services. Our guide to allowable expenses for landlords covers what you can deduct.
Three rules make this simpler than it sounds:
- One UK property business. All your UK properties together form one UK property business. You do not need separate records for each property, and everything goes into one quarterly update.
- Foreign property is separate. Keep separate records for each foreign property, including your share of any you let jointly. All foreign properties together form one foreign property business with its own quarterly update.
- Rent-a-Room. If you let a room in your own home, create records of the Rent-a-Room income; the relief applies automatically when you meet the conditions.
Mixed and capital costs
Some costs are only partly allowable. For an expense that is partly private, you can record only the allowable part, or the total with the private part shown, or the total and then adjust the category total later. For a payment that is part capital and part revenue, record only the revenue part, or the full amount and adjust before you finalise. GOV.UK's example is a mortgage payment: record either the interest, or the whole payment and adjust later.
Easements for joint owners and smaller landlords
Jointly let property. You record only your share of the income and expenses. You can also simplify in two ways:
- create less detailed records: one income record per category for each update period, and one expense record per category for the tax year. Three monthly rent records of £1,000 can become one quarterly record of £3,000;
- leave the expenses on jointly let property out of your quarterly updates, and add them before your tax return, either by resending the fourth update or by adjusting the category total.
Expenses on properties you own outright still go in the updates as normal. Joint landlords do not need to link their records to the other owner's. See MTD for jointly owned property for worked examples.
Simpler categorisation. If your UK property turnover is under £90,000 for the tax year, including jointly let property, you can use simpler categories. Residential landlords must still identify expenses that are restricted finance costs. If turnover reaches £90,000, every record for that income source must be fully categorised, back to the start of the tax year. If in doubt, use full categories from the start.
Using more than one product
If all your records and submissions are in one product, you need nothing else. If you keep records in one place, such as a spreadsheet, and submit from another, the two must be digitally linked: linked cells, an emailed spreadsheet for import, a file on a memory stick, CSV or XML import, or an automated or API transfer. Once a record has been sent in a quarterly update, do not retype it or cut and paste it. Our guide to MTD bridging software for landlords covers spreadsheets in detail.
Bank feeds
If your software pulls transactions from your bank, you may still need to add detail, such as the Self Assessment category. Some transactions may not appear in full in a bank feed and need recording separately. You are responsible for the records being right before each quarterly update. If you only see a net amount, for example rent a letting agent pays over after taking its fees, find the gross income and record the income and expenses separately.
When to create records
- Start date. If your accounting period ends on 5 April, start records from 6 April. If it ends on 31 March, start from 1 April and use calendar update periods.
- Timing. Create records before each quarterly update deadline, and as close to the transaction date as you can.
- Joined mid-year. Catch up by creating records from the start of the tax year. No penalty points apply for late quarterly updates in 2026 to 2027.
- Waiting on figures from someone else. Estimate and update later, or record the figures once confirmed and send nil updates for that source until then. Everything must be final before your tax return.
With standard update periods, updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, each covering the tax year so far. The MTD quarterly update checklist is a one-page routine for each quarter.
Fixing mistakes
Correct errors as soon as you find them. Because updates are cumulative, a correction made in your records shows in your next update. If you find a mistake after sending the fourth update, either correct the record and resend that update, or adjust the category total and update your records.
How long to keep records
Keep digital records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the tax year, the same as for Self Assessment. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the return is due by 31 January 2028, so keep the records until at least 31 January 2033. The record keeping glossary entry covers the general rules.
Keeping digital records in VoxaMTD
VoxaMTD is MTD software for UK sole traders and landlords. It keeps your digital records and sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income using the standard update periods (6th to 5th), and sending quarterly updates is free. You can connect your bank with open banking or import a CSV or Excel file, and each line carries a date, an amount and a category. See how quarterly updates work in VoxaMTD.
Sources
- Create digital records (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
- Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
- Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
This guide is general information, not tax advice.