Making Tax Digital: landlord registrations reach 163,400 before November deadline

What happened

Making Tax Digital registrations among taxpayers receiving UK property income reached around 163,400 by 21 September 2026, according to HMRC figures obtained by Landlord Studio. The software company secured the figures through a Freedom of Information request. They show an increase of about 5% across roughly six weeks around the first quarterly reporting deadline.

HMRC recorded around 155,500 registrations in this group on 6 August 2026, putting the subsequent increase at approximately 7,900. These are counts of taxpayers with UK property income, not counts of rental homes. The figures therefore cannot be read as the number of properties covered by the digital reporting system.

The disclosure separately records taxpayers receiving foreign property income. Registrations in that group increased from around 6,200 on 6 August to around 6,500 on 21 September, with the reported underlying increase put at approximately 290, or about 5%. Because the headline totals are rounded, subtracting them does not reproduce the reported increase exactly.

HMRC also recorded around 304,800 authorisations linked to MTD-compatible software by 21 September, compared with approximately 285,200 on 10 August. That represents an increase of around 19,600, or about 7%. The software comparison starts four days later than the registration comparisons, so the changes do not cover identical periods.

The figures leave an important question unanswered: what proportion of landlords required to use Making Tax Digital have completed the necessary steps? The supplied data gives no total for the population that should have registered. It consequently cannot establish a compliance rate or quantify the number still outside the system.

The background

Under the Making Tax Digital requirements described in the source report, affected landlords must maintain digital records and report income to HMRC quarterly. Reporting solely through an annual Self Assessment return is no longer sufficient for those in scope. The practical change is therefore about both record-keeping and the frequency of reporting, rather than simply obtaining an online account.

For a landlord accustomed to assembling information once a year, quarterly reporting creates a more frequent administrative task. Records need to support submissions throughout the year, rather than being gathered only for the annual return. That is the change behind Landlord Studio's warning that landlords need time to establish suitable processes and software.

The next quarterly deadline falls in November 2026, according to the report. However, the latest registration snapshot is dated 21 September, more than a month before 24 October 2026. It does not capture any registrations or software authorisations completed after that September cut-off, and should not be presented as a live count.

A further expansion is scheduled for April 2027, when landlords and sole traders with qualifying income above £30,000 will come into scope, according to the report. The threshold is expressed in terms of qualifying income, not property value. The source does not provide the detailed calculation rules, so these figures alone cannot determine whether an individual landlord must join.

Making Tax Digital concerns how income information is recorded and reported, rather than the tax treatment of selling a property. Landlords considering a disposal face separate questions covered in reporting on the capital gains tax Budget decision. Keeping those issues distinct matters: a change to reporting requirements is not, by itself, evidence of a change in a tax rate.

Read moreCapital gains tax: landlords await Budget confirmation on reported rate freeze

What people are saying

Logan Ransley, co-founder of Landlord Studio, interpreted the roughly 5% increase as a sign that registrations had not accelerated substantially following the first quarterly deadline. He said the approaching November deadline raised concerns about landlords' readiness. That is the company's assessment of the figures, rather than an HMRC finding about how many landlords are unprepared.

Ransley also warned that the April 2027 expansion would bring more landlords into the system and that failure to comply could lead to penalties. His practical emphasis was on allowing time to organise records, reporting processes and suitable software. The source report does not specify penalty amounts or the circumstances in which particular penalties would apply.

Ransley suggested that maintaining records throughout the year could help landlords understand how their properties are performing. That potential benefit is separate from the compliance requirement and is not demonstrated by the registration figures. Property performance also involves a different set of measures, as explained in coverage of rental yields, rents and purchase prices.

Ransley acknowledged that the data could not establish how many landlords would ultimately comply. HMRC's contribution in the supplied material is the numerical FOI response; no separate HMRC explanation for the pace of registrations is included. The figures therefore support a measured account of rising take-up, but not a definitive explanation of why registrations changed at that rate.

What happens next

For landlords already subject to Making Tax Digital, the immediate reporting milestone identified in the source is November 2026. Ransley's warning points to the need to distinguish signing up from having records and reporting arrangements ready. The FOI figures count registrations and software authorisations, but do not say how many taxpayers submitted a quarterly update successfully.

The increase in software authorisations shows additional activity involving compatible software, according to HMRC's figures. It does not establish that every authorisation represents a different landlord, or that the software was subsequently used to complete a submission. Those limits matter when comparing the larger software total with the smaller UK property income registration count.

For the group entering from April 2027, Ransley's advice was to prepare records, processes and software before the requirements take effect. The source does not identify particular products, prices or a preferred provider. Landlord Studio obtained the figures and supplied the commentary, so its recommendations should be understood in that context.

Landlords following wider tax debates should also distinguish a scheduled reporting change from proposals for future tax reform. The NRLA's call for capital gains tax inflation relief, for example, concerns a separate policy issue. Neither that proposal nor debate about disposal taxes changes what these FOI figures measure.

A later HMRC release could show whether registrations increased more quickly ahead of November, but no further publication date is given in the source. To assess readiness more fully, registration totals would need to be considered alongside the number required to participate and evidence of completed reporting. Without those measures, the size of any compliance gap remains unknown.

Why this matters

For affected landlords, Making Tax Digital changes the routine of managing rental income: digital records and quarterly reporting require attention throughout the year. The November deadline and April 2027 expansion make preparation a practical concern, according to Landlord Studio. However, the HMRC figures should not be mistaken for proof of widespread non-compliance. They show registration growth, while leaving unanswered how many landlords must participate and how many have successfully reported.