MTD Landlords Still Unregistered: Catch Up After 7 August

The first Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax quarterly update deadline landed on 7 August 2026 for in-scope sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. Within a day, professional bodies and landlord trade press were reporting that a large share of mandated taxpayers had still not registered — ACCA cited HMRC figures suggesting roughly half of around 850,000 impacted people remained outside the system as the deadline passed.

That gap matters most for landlords. HMRC’s own briefing material has previously put more than 259,000 landlords with turnover above £50,000 in the first cohort, including people whose only qualifying income is property and people who combine self-employment with rental income. If you rent out property and are still not signed up, treat this week as catch-up — not as a year off.

HMRC will not apply points-based late submission penalties for missed quarterly update deadlines during 2026 to 2027. That soft landing is intentional for a new regime. It does not cancel the duty to keep digital records, send quarterly updates through compatible software, or complete the year-end Self Assessment tax return.

You still need every quarterly update sent before you can submit the MTD tax return for 2026/27 (due by 31 January 2028 under HMRC’s published timetable). Late Self Assessment return penalties and late payment penalties continue on normal rules. Interest still accrues on unpaid tax. Missing Q1 does not wipe later dates — the second update remains due by 7 November 2026.

Confirm you are in scope using qualifying income from your 2024/25 tax return — self-employment and property income count together. Joint property interests, furnished holiday lets (where still relevant to your facts), and mixed portfolios need careful mapping so the right income streams sit in digital records.

Sign up for MTD for Income Tax if you have not already, choose HMRC-recognised compatible software, and complete agent authorisation where an accountant will send updates. HMRC’s agent special edition stresses that sign-up, software link, and authorisation must all be in place before an update can leave the practice.

Finish digital records for the first update period (standard periods generally 6 April to 5 July 2026; calendar periods 1 April to 30 June 2026). Each send is cumulative from the start of the tax year. Property expense categories — finance costs, repairs, agent fees, insurance, utilities where allowable — should match how you intend to present the year-end return, even though the quarterly update itself only sends summary totals.

ACCA’s warning after the deadline also looked ahead: if HMRC struggles to onboard the £50,000+ cohort now, the challenge grows when the £30,000 threshold cohort joins from April 2027 and the £20,000 cohort from April 2028. Landlords who delay software and bank-feed discipline into autumn will feel that pressure twice — unfinished 2026/27 updates plus a wider peer group competing for adviser time.

Use the soft-landing year to prove your process: monthly rent and expense capture, clear joint-ownership splits, and a diary for 7 November, 7 February 2027, and 7 May 2027. Treat estimates shown after a send as planning tools only — not payment demands.

Organised rental income, expense, and bank categories shorten the path from catch-up bookkeeping to quarterly update totals your adviser can review. FinnAccountings helps Ireland and UK landlords and sole traders prepare bookkeeping and tax packs with Chartered Accountant insight before you or your ICAEW/ACCA or Chartered Accountant (Ireland) adviser reviews figures. Start a free trial for review-ready drafts — we prepare packs; we do not submit MTD quarterly updates or Self Assessment returns to HMRC on your behalf.

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See our missed-deadline briefing for the full soft-landing rules, and use the free tax calculator only for high-level Income Tax and National Insurance planning.

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