Making Tax Digital: what landlords can do in their HMRC account

Landlords signed up to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD, HMRC's new way to do Self Assessment using compatible software) reach the service through their existing HMRC online account. HMRC retitled that part of its GOV.UK guide on 16 October 2026 to 'Check if Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added to your HMRC online account'. The page lists 11 things you can do there.

How do I check Making Tax Digital is in my HMRC online account?

According to HMRC's guidance on GOV.UK (updated 16 October 2026), sole traders and landlords sign in to HMRC online services once signed up. You use the sign in details you use for Self Assessment (HMRC's yearly tax return system), then select 'Making Tax Digital for Income Tax'.

If the service is missing, you can add it manually. Sign in, select 'Add a tax to your account', choose Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and answer the security questions (HMRC, 16 October 2026).

Agents follow a separate route. They use their agent services account (the online account agents use to act for clients) once they are authorised and the client is signed up. What an agent can do also depends on whether they are a main or supporting agent, the same page says. Our business and systems guides cover how to organise a property business.

What can landlords do in the HMRC online account?

HMRC's page says you can use the account to:

• view an estimate of your tax bill

• check quarterly update and tax return due dates

• view your reporting obligations (what you need to report for each tax year)

• check what you owe and make a payment

• view your sole trader and property business details

• add a new sole trader or property business, in the UK or overseas

• tell HMRC when an income source stops

• adjust a payment on account

• view and appeal penalty points and penalties

• opt out if you are voluntarily using MTD

• sign up again if you were previously signed up and opted out

HMRC adds that you will "be able to access more services in your account in the future". For anything not listed, it points you to Self Assessment: general enquiries.

A payment on account is a payment towards your next tax bill, and each one is half of the tax you owed last year (GOV.UK, Payments on account). GOV.UK warns that if you reduce them and your bill turns out higher, you are charged interest on the difference.

The account also shows when a quarterly update has been sent. HMRC's Send quarterly updates guidance added a note on this on 16 October. After you send a quarterly update (the income and expense totals your software sends every 3 months), recent activity will say 'You sent a quarterly update'. For what that update contains, see our guide to the second quarterly update.

Who needs Making Tax Digital next, and when?

HMRC's eligibility guidance applies MTD to sole traders and landlords registered for Self Assessment with self-employment or property income. Your qualifying income must also be over the threshold for the tax year. Over £50,000 for 2024 to 2025 meant starting from 6 April 2026. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 means 6 April 2028.

For example, take a hypothetical landlord registered for Self Assessment with qualifying income of £35,000 in both 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026. That sat £15,000 below the £50,000 threshold, so no April 2026 start. But it is £5,000 over the £30,000 threshold, so this landlord will need to use MTD from 6 April 2027 unless exempt.

HMRC says it reviews each Self Assessment return and writes if your income is above the threshold. If no letter arrives, it is still your responsibility to check. You also still submit a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year before you start. HMRC's online tool checks when you need to start, and whether you may be exempt.

Before you change a payment on account, speak to your accountant. Our free property resources can help you keep the rest of your records in order.

Key takeaways

• HMRC retitled a section of its Making Tax Digital guide on 16 October 2026: 'Check if Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has been added to your HMRC online account'.

• Signed-up landlords use their Self Assessment sign in details; agents use their agent services account.

• The account offers 11 listed options, including a tax bill estimate, due dates, payments and penalty appeals, and HMRC says more services will follow.

• Qualifying income over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means using MTD from 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 means 6 April 2028.

• Consider checking the account now, and speak to your accountant before adjusting a payment on account.