MTD records checklist for landlords, every quarter.

An MTD records checklist for landlords is the list your practice sends each landlord client after every quarter: letting agent statements, rent received, property costs, mortgage statements and a note on what changed. Sent the same way four times a year, it gets the records in with time to prepare the quarterly update before HMRC's deadline.

This guide is for the practice, not the taxpayer. It covers who is in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax now, the checklist itself with a line on why each item is needed, and what to do for jointly owned property and landlords with several properties.

Who's in MTD now, and who joins next

Landlords and sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000 have had to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax since 6 April 2026. Those over £30,000 join from 6 April 2027, and those over £20,000 from 6 April 2028.

Qualifying income is property and self-employment income before expenses, taken from the tax return for an earlier year. For jointly owned property, only the client's share counts. Checked on 26 October 2026 against Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and Work out your qualifying income.

What the quarterly update needs from your client

The quarterly update is a set of totals by income and expense category, worked out by MTD software from the digital records. HMRC doesn't receive individual invoices or statements. Each digital record needs an amount, a date and a category.

So the documents you ask for are the source behind those records. GOV.UK says the original records or copies, such as bank statements and invoices, still have to be kept. Two points shape what you ask a landlord for:

• Full rent, not the net payment. If a client only knows their income after expenses were taken off, HMRC says to record the full income and the expenses separately. That's why the agent's statement matters more than the payment into the bank.
• Mortgage interest, not the whole payment. A mortgage payment is part capital and part interest. The digital record can show the interest, or the full amount with an adjustment later.

Checked on 26 October 2026 against Create digital records.

The MTD records checklist for landlords

These are typical items to tailor to each client. Remove what doesn't apply, name the properties each item covers, and keep the "why we ask" lines: clients send things faster when they know what they're for.

Rent

Property costs

Finance

Changes in the quarter

Things worth a note:

• a property bought or sold, with the date
• a new tenancy, or a tenancy that ended
• a property left empty, and for how long
• a new letting agent, or one that stopped managing a property
• large works, such as a new kitchen or roof
• a change in who owns a property, or in their shares
• an item above with nothing to send this quarter

Copy the checklist

MTD QUARTERLY RECORDS: [CLIENT NAME]
Properties: [address of each property, and the client's share
if jointly owned]
Quarter: [first day] to [last day]
Please send by: [date]

RENT
- Letting agent statements for the quarter, for every
  property the agent manages
  Why we ask: they show the full rent and each deduction.
- Your own record of rent received, if you collect rent
  yourself
  Why we ask: rent paid to you isn't on an agent statement.

PROPERTY COSTS
- Repair and maintenance invoices for the quarter
  Why we ask: each cost needs a category.
- Insurance, ground rent and service charge bills,
  for each property
  Why we ask: bills paid by direct debit are easy to miss.
- Other property costs, such as cleaning, gardening,
  safety certificates or advertising
  Why we ask: small costs leave no detail on a statement.

FINANCE
- Mortgage statements showing the interest charged,
  for each mortgaged property
  Why we ask: only the interest is a property cost.

CHANGES IN THE QUARTER
- Any property bought, sold, newly let or left empty
  this quarter?
  Tell us which property and when. Also mention a new
  letting agent, large works, a change in ownership,
  or an item above with nothing to send.

Jointly owned property and several properties

Both come up with most landlord clients, and both are simpler than they look. The rule to remember is one request per client each quarter, with the properties named in each item.

Landlords with several properties

All of a client's UK properties count as one UK property business. HMRC says they don't need separate digital records for each UK property, and the software adds them into one quarterly update.

• One request, not one per property. A request per property means more emails, more reminders and more chances to miss one. A single request matches the single update.
• Name each property in the items. Write the addresses into each item's description, such as "Flat 2, 14 Mill Road and 9 Station Street". Your client then sees which statements to send, and you see which are missing.
• Foreign property is a separate business. It gets its own quarterly update, and HMRC asks for separate digital records for each foreign property. Add separate items for it, so those records stay apart.

Jointly owned property

Each owner reports only their own share of the rent and costs. HMRC also lets joint owners keep simpler records for jointly let property:

• Less detail. They can create one digital record per category for the quarter, such as £3,000 of rent, instead of one per payment.
• Expenses at year end. They can leave the costs of jointly let property out of the quarterly updates and add them after the tax year ends, by resending the fourth update. Costs for property they own outright still go in every quarter.
• No shared records. They don't need to link their digital records to the other owner's.

For the checklist, this means asking for the statements for the whole property and the client's share, then recording their part. If you use the year-end option for expenses, you can drop the joint property's cost items from the quarterly request and ask for them once after 5 April.

When both owners are your clients, send each their own request. Each one sends their own quarterly update, and either may be in MTD when the other isn't.

Checked on 26 October 2026 against Create digital records and Send quarterly updates.

Making it a habit

Four quarters a year only work if every quarter runs the same way. The client should know what's coming and when, without being asked.

The same request every quarter

Send the same list after each quarter ends, with the same item names and the same properties. By the second quarter your client knows which agent statements to download and where the bills are.

Change the list only when the portfolio changes. The "changes in the quarter" answer tells you when to add or remove a property for next time.

A fixed due date before the 7th

HMRC's deadlines are the same every year. Send the request on the 8th of the month after the quarter ends, and set the due date 21 days later. That leaves over a week to chase and prepare the update before the 7th.

These are HMRC's standard update periods, and each update covers the tax year so far. Clients whose accounting period runs from 1 April to 31 March may use calendar update periods instead, with the same deadlines. Checked on 26 October 2026 against Send quarterly updates.

Landlords who leave it to the agent

Many landlords think the agent's annual statement is enough, as it was for Self Assessment. Quarterly updates still have to go in, and an update is due even for a quarter with no income or costs.

• Start with the agent statements. They cover most of a managed property's rent and costs in a few downloads. Add the bills the client pays directly once the habit sticks.
• Explain the penalty timeline plainly. HMRC won't apply penalty points for late quarterly updates in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. After that, each late update gets a point, and 4 points bring a £200 penalty.
• Use the next update to catch up. Each update covers the tax year so far, so late records go into the next one. They don't have to wait for year end.

How to do this in GarnerDocs

GarnerDocs collects the quarter's records. Your MTD software keeps the digital records and sends the update to HMRC: GarnerDocs isn't MTD software and doesn't connect to HMRC.

• The checklist, ready to send. New workspaces include MTD Quarterly Update – Landlord, with the items above. The question about property changes is a short answer your client types instead of uploading a file.
• One quarterly workflow. Choose Quarterly, UK tax quarters and Previous quarter, run it on the 8th and set the due date 21 days later. Each request is titled with the quarter, such as Q3 2026–27.
• Properties named for each client. For a client with several properties, duplicate the template, write the addresses into each item's Description, and give that client a workflow with their own template.
• Several files per item. Your client can upload every agent statement or invoice for the quarter to the same item.
• Reminders that stop. Each reminder lists only what's still missing, and they stop once everything is in.
• Both templates for both incomes. A client who is also a sole trader gets the sole trader request as well, so the two sets of records never mix.

See Collect MTD quarterly records automatically.

Sources

• Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, HMRC. Checked on 26 October 2026.
• Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, HMRC. Checked on 26 October 2026.
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: create digital records, HMRC. Checked on 26 October 2026.
• Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: send quarterly updates, HMRC. Checked on 26 October 2026.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the rules that apply to each client.