Joint owners
MTD for jointly owned property.
If you own a rental with your partner, a family member or a friend, Making Tax Digital treats each of you separately. Here's how the threshold works, who sends what, and the easement that makes joint ownership simpler.
Checked against HMRC guidance on
Each owner is assessed on their own share
There's no joint MTD return. HMRC looks at each owner separately, and only your share of the rent counts towards your qualifying income. Two owners splitting £60,000 of rent equally each have £30,000 from that property.
| Example | Your share of rent | Other income | Qualifying income | MTD from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Couple, one flat, 50/50 | £14,000 | None | £14,000 | Not yet |
| Couple, three flats, 50/50 | £33,000 | None | £33,000 | 6 April 2027 |
| You and a sibling, 50/50 | £12,000 | £15,000 self-employed | £27,000 | 6 April 2028 |
So one of you can be in MTD while the other isn't yet. The one who isn't carries on with a normal Self Assessment return until their own total goes over the threshold.
How the split is decided
- Married couples and civil partners are taxed 50/50 on jointly owned property by default, even if you own it in different shares.
- If you actually own it unequally, you can tell HMRC with Form 17 and be taxed on your real shares instead. It only covers property you genuinely own in those shares.
- Other co-owners, like siblings, friends or unmarried partners, are usually taxed on their actual shares of the income.
What each of you sends
Every owner who is in MTD sends their own four quarterly updates and their own final declaration, from software connected to their own HMRC account. If one of you does the paperwork for both, the other still has to authorise the software with their own Government Gateway login.
The joint-ownership easement
HMRC lets joint owners keep it simpler during the year. For jointly let property you can send just your share of the income in your quarterly updates, and leave the expenses until later in the year. Because quarterly updates are cumulative, the expenses then go in with a later update or at the year end.
Common questions
We own some properties jointly and one on my own. How does that work?
All your UK lettings form one property business for MTD. Your updates include your share of the joint ones plus all of the one you own outright, as one set of totals.
My partner isn't in MTD yet. Do I need to do anything for them?
No. They file a normal Self Assessment return for their share until their own qualifying income goes over the threshold. It's worth checking each year, because the threshold drops to £20,000 from April 2028.
Not sure where each of you stands? Check in a minute using your own share.