How MTD works for jointly owned rental property

Plenty of landlords don't own their property alone. You might have bought it with your spouse, split it with a sibling, or gone in with a friend on a buy-to-let. It is a common setup, and it raises a common question: how does Making Tax Digital work when two or more people own the same property?

Once you understand one principle, the rest falls into place.

Tax is personal, even when the property isn't

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax follows the person, not the property.

You don't file one joint set of records. Each owner reports their own share of the income and expenses under their own tax affairs. HMRC is interested in your share of the income and your tax position. Your co-owner has their own.

So if you jointly own a flat that brings in £20,000 a year in rent and you split it 50/50, then £10,000 lands on each of your records, not the full £20,000 on either of you. If the split is 60/40, that is how you each report it.

This is the same principle that has always applied under Self Assessment. MTD doesn't change how the income is divided. It changes how you keep records and report to HMRC.

How the income split usually works

For married couples and civil partners, jointly held property is usually taxed 50/50 by default. You can sometimes choose a different split that reflects your actual ownership shares, but that involves specific paperwork with HMRC and isn't automatic.

For other joint owners, such as friends, family members or business partners, the split usually follows your ownership shares.

Whatever applies, agree your split, keep it consistent, and make sure each of you records the same proportion. If you are unsure what split applies to your situation, this is worth checking with HMRC or an accountant.

How your share affects whether you're in MTD at all

Whether you need to join MTD depends on each person's own qualifying income, not the total the property earns.

Qualifying income means your gross rental income (before expenses) plus any self-employment income. The number that counts is your share, not the property's total.

MTD for Income Tax is being phased in like this:

• Over £50,000: from 6 April 2026
• Over £30,000: from 6 April 2027
• Over £20,000: from 6 April 2028
• £20,000 or under: not yet required to join

Imagine a couple owning a property that brings in £60,000 in rent, split 50/50. Each person counts £30,000 as their share, not the full £60,000. That changes when each of them is brought into MTD.

The part people miss is that you add up all your qualifying income. If a jointly owned property earns £36,000 a year gross and you split it evenly, you each have £18,000 from it, which on its own sits under the £20,000 line. But if you also have another property, or some self-employment, your share of the joint property is added to that. Your personal total across everything decides when, and whether, you join.

It is possible for two co-owners to join at different times, or for one to be required while the other isn't yet. Always work it out per person.

What you each have to do once you're in

Once you are within MTD, each owner independently:

1. Keeps digital records of their share of the income and expenses.
2. Sends HMRC four quarterly updates across the tax year. From 2025-26 onwards these are cumulative year-to-date totals, so each update restates the running total so far rather than starting from scratch.
3. Submits one tax return after the tax year ends, which pulls everything together.

The standard quarterly periods end on 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April, with deadlines of 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. The tax return is due by 31 January following the end of the tax year, the same date Self Assessment always used.

If you both own the property, you each do this for your own share, separately. Two sets of records, two tax returns.

A simple way to split the figures

The practical question is usually how to work out your half. Most couples and co-owners agree a fixed split, often 50/50, and apply it to every figure. When £900 of rent comes in, you each record £450. When a £200 repair is paid, you each record £100.

A few pointers:

• Agree your split in writing so you are both recording the same percentages. If you want a split other than the married-couple default, there are formalities, and it is worth a word with an accountant.
• Use the same split for income and expenses.
• Keep one tidy record of the property's full income and costs, or a shared spreadsheet, then each take your agreed percentage into your own record. That way nothing gets counted twice or missed.
• Track expenses when they happen, whether a repair, an insurance renewal or a letting agent fee, and apply your share straight away.

Even if one of you does the day-to-day admin, each person needs their own digital records and files their own updates.

Two records, but not double the work

It is easy to assume joint ownership means twice the faff. The figures only need working out once for the property, and you each take your share from there. The admin stays light if you keep on top of it as you go.

You don't necessarily need an accountant just because a property is shared. You need a clear, consistent way to record your portion and file on time. Quarterwise keeps your digital records and files your quarterly updates and tax return to HMRC, so each owner handles their own share separately rather than untangling one shared muddle at the year's end.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Please check your own circumstances with HMRC or a qualified accountant.