Making Tax Digital: Are you and your agent on the same page?

If you’re a landlord with a qualifying income over £50,000pa you’re likely already considering how the move to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD for ITSA) is going to affect your business this year. At least I hope you are, because from 6th April 2026 you are very likely to be mandated to start reporting to HMRC quarterly on your income and expenditure.  

In fact, even if your income is significantly below the threshold it is well worth getting ready as the roll-out will capture those with an income of £30k in 2027 and £20k in 2028.  It will not be long before the majority of landlords have to switch from once yearly submissions to quarterly reporting.  

That’s fine, my agent handles all the admin….

If you use a letting or management agent, you might be tempted to think: "my agent handles the numbers, so I’m all set", which is great, a good agent is likely to be your best friend in this transition, but the legal responsibility for going digital sits squarely with you as landlord.  

If your agent collects your rent and pays your contractors, they already hold a lot of the data you need.

However, digital record keeping can mean a number of different things to different businesses, and this is an opportunity to make your experience as painless as possible.  

Ideally, your agent will be able to make the process of getting the data from your agent’s statement to your tax software virtually seamless. 

At present, many agents will provide an annual or perhaps monthly PDF statement of account, but manually transposing figures from a PDF statement into a spreadsheet or software is tedious, and for the large part unnecessary with the proper preparation. 

Extracting the most value from your agent: Three tips to be MTD ready

To make sure you are both on the same page.

1. Request "digital-ready" statements. If you currently receive PDF statements, or oddly formatted, incompatible tables, ask your agent if they can provide your monthly or quarterly statements in a standard digital format, such as CSV or Excel.  

Most software used by agencies can export these easily and it allows you (or your accountant) to bulk upload the data into NRLA Portfolio or practically any MTD-compliant software like that provided by our partners at Tax’d. 

2. Clarify what they are reporting. HMRC requires you to report the gross rent received and then list the agent’s commission and management fees as an expense. It is not uncommon for agents to provide a ‘net’ figure. If your agent currently only sends you the net amount after fees, you’ll need to ensure your new digital records accurately split these out to remain compliant. 

3. Have ‘the talk’. No, not the birds and the bees, most letting agents have got at least a rudimentary grasp of that by the time they get the keys to their first Mini Cooper. Now is the time to talk about who does what and establish clear boundaries.  

For instance, will your agent be providing a specific year-end digital summary? Or do they offer an add-on service to link directly with your software? Most agents will provide the data, but you will still likely need an accountant or your own software subscription to hit the "submit" button to HMRC.

This isn’t complicated, but the last thing you want at the end of the tax year is another unexpected cost – so it’s best to get ahead of any problems and find out exactly what services they include, what might be extra, and what you need to take care of yourself. And don’t worry, NRLA Portfolio can still help you with anything your agents can’t do or simply wants to charge too much for.

Important NEW Deadlines

Once we hit April 2026, the clock starts. If you’re in the first wave for MTD, here are the dates to mark on your calendar; ahead of which you need to make sure to have got all of the information you need from your agent.  

• Quarter 1 (April 6 – July 5): Deadline August 7, 2026. 

• Quarter 2 (July 6 – Oct 5): Deadline November 7, 2026. 

• Quarter 3 (Oct 6 – Jan 5): Deadline February 7, 2027. 

• Quarter 4 (Jan 6 – April 5): Deadline May 7, 2027. 

Finally, don't Panic, just prepare

The good news is that if you use an agent, your records are likely already more organised than many of us who self-manage. They are probably already using some kind of software and keeping digital records.  

The transition is simply about the format of that information. By switching to MTD-compatible software now and aligning with your agent’s reporting style, you’ll turn a potential April headache into a streamlined, (largely) automated process. 

More information

• To read our guide on Making Tax Digital click here.
• Our award-winning training academy also runs a Making Tax Digital course to help you prepare for the changes up ahead.
• And in a recent epsiode of our podcast Listen Up Landlords we were joined by director general for customer strategy and tax design at HMRC, Jonathan Athow to talk about how landlords should prepare. To listen click the link below.