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Short-term lets

Making Tax Digital for Booking.com hosts

Booking.com reports your income to HMRC — and unlike other platforms it invoices its commission separately, which quietly breaks payout-based bookkeeping. Here's how to get it right.

Booking.com now reports your income to HMRC

Under the UK’s reporting rules for digital platforms on GOV.UK, booking platforms collect and verify their UK hosts’ details and report their income to HMRC every January. This isn’t a new tax — but it does mean HMRC sees a platform’s version of your earnings. The practical takeaway: your own records should be gross-accurate and match the platform’s figures, not just your bank payouts.

Does Making Tax Digital apply to you?

MTD for Income Tax is phased in by gross qualifying income — your rental income before expenses, across all your property (short and long lets), plus any self-employment turnover: over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027, and over £20,000 from April 2028. A busy short-term let can pass these thresholds well before it feels like a “big” business — occupancy of a single popular listing can clear £20,000 gross.

Check if and when MTD applies to you →

Gross income, not payouts — the mistake to avoid

Booking.com pays you net: the booking total minus service fees. HMRC wants the gross booking income declared, with the fees claimed as an expense. Working from bank payouts alone understates both sides. That’s exactly what Quarterwise’s import fixes: it reads your earnings report and records gross income and fees separately, automatically.

Import your Booking.com earnings in minutes

  1. In the Booking.com extranet, download your reservations export (Reservations → download) for the period.
  2. Also download your monthly commission invoices (Finance → Invoices) — Booking.com charges commission separately, so the reservations file alone overstates your profit.
  3. In Quarterwise, go to Import, upload the file, match your listings to your properties once — and your income and fees are recorded, gross and HMRC-ready. Re-imports skip anything already recorded, so overlapping exports never double-count.

The rules changed in April 2025

The furnished holiday lettings regime was abolished from April 2025 — short-term let income is now ordinary UK property income, with the same expense categories and the same MTD timetable as any other rental. And if you host in your own home, rent-a-room relief (up to £7,500 a year tax-free) may apply instead of expense-based accounting — Quarterwise flags this when you mark a listing as a room in your home.

Written by the Quarterwise team. Figures sourced from GOV.UK and current at July 2026. This is general information, not tax advice — for advice on your specific circumstances, speak to a qualified adviser or HMRC.

Common questions

Does Booking.com really tell HMRC about my income?
Yes. Under the UK's reporting rules for digital platforms, booking platforms collect and verify sellers' details and report their income to HMRC every January. That doesn't change what tax you owe — it means HMRC can compare what the platform reports with what you declare, so accurate records matter more than ever.
Do short-term let hosts fall under Making Tax Digital?
If your gross property income (before expenses, across all your properties — long and short lets combined, plus any self-employment turnover) passes the MTD threshold, yes: over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027, and over £20,000 from April 2028. It is a gross income test, not profit.
Do I report what I received in payouts, or the full booking amount?
The full (gross) amount. Platform service fees and commission are claimed separately as expenses. Reporting net payouts understates both your income and your expenses — and will not match what the platform reports to HMRC.
What happened to the furnished holiday lettings (FHL) rules?
The FHL regime was abolished from April 2025. Short-term let income is now taxed as ordinary UK property income — same expense categories and same MTD treatment as any other rental.
Why do I need TWO files from Booking.com?
Because guests typically pay you gross (or at the property) and Booking.com invoices its commission monthly afterwards. The reservations file gives your income; the commission invoice gives the matching expense. Quarterwise imports both and keeps them tied together, so your profit is neither over- nor under-stated.

More: MTD guides for landlords · your MTD deadlines · all free tools

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