The way you report tax to HMRC is about to change

While many people associate Making Tax Digital with landlords, the rules actually  apply to anyone with qualifying income from property or self-employment. That means consultants, freelancers, contractors and many small business owners will also be moving to quarterly digital reporting over the next few years. From April this year, the first reporting periods for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax begin to affect property owners across the UK. While full adoption will roll out over the next few years, the direction is already clear: tax reporting is moving from once-a-year paperwork to regular digital updates.

For many owners, we understand that it all brings understandable questions:

• What exactly is changing?
• Why is the government introducing it?
• And how can you comply without creating hours of extra admin every quarter?

At Maxine Lester Lettings and Property Management, we believe our role is not just to manage property, but also to help owners navigate the increasing complexity of regulation and compliance.

So here is what MTD means, why it is happening, and how we are making it simple for our owners.

The rollout has been set as follows…

First Wave – April 2026`

If your gross income (before expenses) from property and/or self-employment is over £50,000, you must start using MTD from 6 April 2026.

Important details:

• It is combined income, not profit.
• It includes rental income + self-employment income together.
• HMRC will usually use your 2024–2025 tax return to decide if you fall into the first wave.

Example:

• £40,000 rental income + £15,000 freelance income = £55,000 → MTD from April 2026

However, this is by person, so if you and say your spouse joint own the property equally, then only 50% of the property rental income is yours, 50% is theirs.

Second Wave – April 2027

The threshold then drops to £30,000 of combined income from property or self-employment.

Third Wave – Expected April 2028

The government plans to reduce the threshold further to £20,000.

However, the first reporting latest deadline is 5 August 2026. There will be fines if any submission is missed, with bigger fines for further dates missed!

But this upload is not a full tax return. It will be a summary of income and expenses recorded during the quarter. This is so HMRC can use the updates to build a running estimate of the taxpayer’s tax position during the year. At the end of the tax year, we will still need to submit our final declaration, which confirms the final figures once adjustments are made.

Why this matters for our customers

The challenge for many landlords is that HMRC requires these quarterly updates to be submitted using compatible digital software of which the choice is huge.

The issue is that traditional documents such as emailed statements, spreadsheets or accountant summaries, or folders of invoices and receipts, will not be able to be uploaded directly to HMRC.

Why Making Tax Digital is happening

HMRC’s Making Tax Digital programme is designed to modernise the UK tax system.

Historically, most property owners submit one tax return per year, often many months after the income and expenses occurred. HMRC believes this system leads to:

• inaccurate records
• lost paperwork
• mistakes in reporting
• and a tax system that feels outdated.

The goal of MTD is to move towards a more real-time, digital system where income and expenses are recorded and submitted regularly.

The challenge for many property owners

In theory, quarterly reporting sounds straightforward. But working on this over the last year and talking with our customers. We understand that many owners have quickly realised the practical challenge because an interface is required to take the information you have and give this in a format that HMRC can read it. Which has lead to three options:

• individually landlords purchase new MTD software
• or manually re-enter data each quarter
• or rely heavily on their accountant to manage submissions.

All of these options take time, effort and cost.

And as many owners already know, managing a rental property involves enough administration without adding quarterly tax submissions.

The opportunity: turning compliance into simplicity

At Maxine Lester, we have always believed our role is to remove hassle and manage risk for owners wherever possible.

That is why we have introduced our MTD Portal Service, designed specifically for rental property owners.

This service combines two powerful tools that make digital tax reporting straightforward.

Nexus – Converting Your Statements for HMRC

We have partnered with Nexus, a specialist provider of Making Tax Digital software.

Nexus connects directly to our lettings system and converts the rental statements we already produce for you into an HMRC-compliant digital format.

That means:

• Your rental income and management costs are already recorded
• The information is automatically converted into the correct format
• You simply review and approve the quarterly submission
• You can also add any expenses you have paid directly, such as insurance or maintenance costs.
• The result is far less manual data entry and a much simpler reporting process.

Owner Portal – your digital property records hub

Alongside Nexus, our Owner Portal gives you a secure digital home for all your property records.

Inside your portal you will find:

• Statements and invoices
• Safety certificates such as gas and electrical reports
• Property inspection reports
• Marketing details, photos and property information

Everything is automatically stored in one organised location, removing the need to search through emails or maintain separate folders.

The portal also includes a custom statement builder, allowing you to generate a full income and expenditure report for any time period.

We have been beta testing this over the last few months and found that owners have found this extremely useful and feel it will reduce time when working with their accountant at year end.

The benefits for owners

Our MTD Portal Service is designed to make tax compliance easier and more efficient.

Key benefits include:

1. Easier Tax Compliance

Meet HMRC’s MTD requirements without learning complex software.

2. Less manual data entry

Your rental statements are automatically converted into digital tax records.

3. No specialist software to buy

Everything is handled through our integrated system.

4. Potential savings on accountant costs

Quarterly updates are already prepared, reducing the work required at year end.

5. Accountant access

Your accountant can review your HMRC submissions if needed.

6. Secure document storage

All statements, certificates and reports are stored safely in one place.

7. Less administration time

No more searching emails or filing paperwork.

Our commitment to owners

Maxine Lester started this business because we believe owners deserve expert, honourable and personal support when renting their property.

Regulation in the rental sector continues to grow — from energy standards to compliance legislation and now tax reporting.

Our job is to anticipate these changes and create solutions that protect our owners’ time, reduce risk and simplify administration.

Making Tax Digital is a significant shift, but with the right systems in place it can actually make financial records clearer and easier to manage.

Cost of the MTD Portal Service

Our complete MTD Portal Service costs just £15 per month including VAT per landlord, but this covers all your properties Maxine Lesters manage.

Want to prepare for Making Tax Digital?

If you would like to learn more about our MTD Portal Service or activate your Owner Portal, our team will be very happy to help. Just book a call here so we can guide you through the next steps.

Because when regulation changes, having the right support makes all the difference.

Book here for a chat about MTD