End of Tax Year Checklist for Landlords: What to Do Before 5 April 2026

The weeks before 5 April are the part of the landlord tax year where a few hours of attention genuinely changes your bill. Once the clock passes midnight on 5 April 2026, the 2025/26 tax year is closed: allowances that have not been used are gone, transfers that have not completed cannot be backdated, and contributions that have not been paid no longer count for the year. This checklist sequences the year-end tasks that matter for UK landlords and points each one to the specialist guide that covers it in full.

This year-end is more consequential than most. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax becomes mandatory from 6 April 2026 for landlords with qualifying income above £50,000, so 2025/26 is the last year many landlords will file rental income on a once-a-year Self Assessment return. The Finance Act 2026 has also already changed several rules that take effect at the start of the new tax year. Work through the dated table first, then the eight tasks below it.

At a glance: every key year-end and 2026/27 date

These are the dates that drive the tasks in this checklist. The actions tied to 5 April 2026 are the ones that cannot be done after the deadline; everything after it is a filing or payment obligation you can diarise now.

Date	What happens	What to do
5 April 2026	End of the 2025/26 tax year	Use your £3,000 capital gains annual exempt amount, make pension contributions, complete any spouse or civil-partner transfer, and crystallise any in-year capital loss. None of these can be backdated.
6 April 2026	MTD for Income Tax becomes mandatory for landlords with qualifying income above £50,000. The main-pool writing-down allowance also falls from 18% to 14% (Finance Act 2026, section 28).	Have compatible software and digital records in place. See the MTD deadline guide.
7 August 2026	First MTD quarterly update deadline, covering the period 6 April to 5 July 2026	Submit your first quarterly summary. The remaining quarters are due 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. See the quarterly deadlines guide.
31 October 2026	Paper Self Assessment filing deadline for 2025/26	Most landlords file online instead. Note this date only if you still file on paper.
31 January 2027	Online filing deadline for the 2025/26 Self Assessment return and the balancing payment, plus the first 2026/27 payment on account	File and pay. The records and calculations below feed this return.

Task 1: Reconcile your 2025/26 records

Start by making sure your records for the year actually tie up. Check that every rental payment shown on your bank statements matches your rent records, and chase down any difference before you build the figures into a return. The common discrepancies are tenant deposits treated as income (they are not your income while held under a deposit scheme), advance rent that straddles the year end, and arrears recovered during the year that need to be recorded in the right period.

This is also the moment to get ahead of MTD. From 6 April 2026 landlords above the £50,000 threshold must keep digital records capable of producing quarterly summaries, so a clean, categorised 2025/26 dataset is the natural starting point for whatever landlord accounting software you adopt. HMRC publishes a list of recognised compatible products; the practical test is whether your tool keeps digital records, files quarterly and produces the final declaration. The closer your current records are to a tidy digital ledger, the less painful the first quarter under MTD will be, and the easier it is to feed a rental income tax calculator or your adviser an accurate profit figure mid-year.

Records to verify

• Monthly rental income against bank receipts for every property account
• Tenant deposit and check-out records (deposits held are not income)
• Mortgage statements and the finance costs paid in the year (needed for the Section 24 credit)
• Letting-agent statements, including fees and any costs they paid on your behalf
• Insurance, service-charge and ground-rent documents
• Receipts and invoices for repairs and other expenses
• For company landlords, the director's loan account: money you put in or drew out, which determines what you can repay tax-free

Task 2: Capture every allowable expense before year-end

The biggest source of overpaid landlord tax is unclaimed deductions. The gateway question for each cost is whether it is a revenue expense (deductible against this year's rental profit) or capital (added to the property's base cost for capital gains tax instead). Get that line right and most of the work is done.

Categories landlords most often miss include letting-agent and accountancy fees, ground rent and service charges, landlord insurance, the costs of advertising for tenants, travel to and from the property wholly for the letting business, replacement of domestic items relief (the deduction for replacing free-standing white goods, furniture and similar in a let property), and a reasonable proportion of home-office and phone costs for self-managing landlords. Landlord insurance is fully deductible where the policy relates to the let property, whether that is buildings, contents, rent guarantee or liability cover. HMRC's Property Income Manual sets out the boundaries.

Worked example. A landlord expects rental profit of about £18,000 in 2025/26 but only £9,000 next year because a property will be empty for a refurbishment. A planned £3,000 redecoration is a genuine revenue repair. Carrying it out before 5 April 2026 sets the £3,000 against the higher-profit year, where the landlord is a higher-rate taxpayer, rather than against next year's lower profit. The work has to be a real repair and actually done before the year end, not merely invoiced.

For the full list of deductible categories and the revenue-versus-capital tests, see the complete landlord tax deductions list.

Task 3: Check your Section 24 finance-cost relief for 2025/26

Section 24 is fully in force. You cannot deduct mortgage interest and other finance costs from rental profit. Instead you receive a basic-rate tax credit, set at 20% for 2025/26, calculated on the lowest of three figures: your finance costs for the year, your residential rental profit before finance costs, and your income above the personal allowance. Where the cap restricts the credit, the unused part carries forward indefinitely, so year-end is the point to check that any carried-forward amount has been picked up.

A basic-rate taxpayer whose total income stays within the basic-rate band is broadly no worse off under Section 24, because the 20% credit matches their marginal rate. The real exposure for them is that the calculation adds the full rents (not the profit net of interest) to their income, which can push part of that income into the higher-rate band and, with it, the child benefit charge or personal-allowance taper. So even basic-rate landlords should run the numbers rather than assume the rule is a higher-rate-only problem.

One forward-looking point worth knowing now. From 2027/28 the finance-cost reducer rises to 22%, because the Finance Act 2026 (Schedule 1, amending the Section 24 reduction for individuals in ITTOIA 2005 sections 274A and 274AA) sets it at the new property basic rate rather than freezing it at 20%. As the reducer tracks the 22% basic rate on property income, no new wedge opens for basic-rate landlords, and the higher and additional-rate wedge does not widen. That is the opposite of how the change is often described, and it matters for any incorporation decision (see Task 7).

For the mechanics and a worked credit calculation, see how to claim mortgage interest relief under Section 24 and the complete Section 24 guide.

Task 4: Capital gains tax timing actions

If a disposal is on the cards, the timing around 5 April changes the tax. Residential property gains are taxed at 18% within your remaining basic-rate band and 24% above it, with the annual exempt amount at £3,000 per person for 2025/26. The annual exempt amount does not roll forward, so an unused £3,000 simply disappears at 5 April.

Use the annual exempt amount before it resets. If you are selling and you have not used your £3,000, completing before 5 April sets it against this year's gain. A jointly owned property gives a couple £6,000 of combined exemption.

Consider a spouse or civil-partner transfer. A transfer between spouses or civil partners who live together is treated as no gain, no loss under section 58 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, so it triggers no immediate tax. Done before a planned sale, it can bank a second £3,000 exemption and move part of the gain to a lower-rate spouse.

Worked example. A higher-rate landlord plans to sell a buy-to-let with a £40,000 gain. Sold in their sole name, after one £3,000 exemption the £37,000 taxable gain costs £8,880 at 24%. If they transfer a half share to a basic-rate spouse first, each uses a £3,000 exemption (£6,000 total) and £34,000 is split. The higher-rate half (£17,000) is taxed at 24% (£4,080) and the basic-rate spouse's £17,000, sitting within their basic-rate band, is largely taxed at 18% rather than 24%. The exact saving depends on the spouse's other income, but the structure routinely cuts the bill, and the transfer itself is tax-free.

Crystallise losses in-year. A loss realised in the same tax year as a gain is set against it automatically, so disposing of a loss-making asset before 5 April can shelter a gain you have already banked.

Where you sell a former main home that has been let, Private Residence Relief under section 222 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 can cover the periods you lived there plus the final nine months (the final-period exemption is in section 223(2)). See Private Residence Relief for landlords. Remember that where tax is due, UK residents must report and pay within 60 days of completion: see the 60-day CGT payment deadlines guide. For the wider picture, including how to estimate a bill before you commit to a sale, the capital gains tax on property guide covers reliefs and rates in full.

Task 5: Get ready for Making Tax Digital, and know the penalty stakes

From 6 April 2026, MTD for Income Tax is mandatory for landlords whose qualifying income (gross rents plus any sole-trade income) exceeds £50,000. The threshold falls to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Limited companies are outside MTD for Income Tax entirely (they file company accounts and a CT600 instead), and general partnerships are deferred to a date HMRC has not yet confirmed. Joint owners test the threshold against their share of the rent, not the property's total.

In practice you will need HMRC-recognised compatible software, kept up to date with digital records, and you will submit a quarterly summary plus a final declaration each year. The quarters and their deadlines are 6 April to 5 July (due 7 August), 6 July to 5 October (due 7 November), 6 October to 5 January (due 7 February) and 6 January to 5 April (due 7 May). From 6 April 2026 you can elect to use calendar-quarter periods (ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March) instead. If you are moving an existing Self Assessment record across, the practical steps are in our guide on switching from Self Assessment to MTD for property income.

The penalties are worth understanding before you start. Late quarterly updates use a points-based system: one point per missed update, with a £200 penalty once you reach four points, and points reset after 24 months of compliance. Late payment of MTD Income Tax follows the accelerated Spring Statement 2025 schedule: 3% of the unpaid tax once it is 15 days late, a further 3% at 30 days, then 10% per annum from day 31. The older 31/46/91-day schedule at 2%/2%/4% does not apply to MTD filers, so do not plan around it.

For the mandate detail see the MTD for landlords deadline guide, and for the full quarterly calendar see the MTD quarterly deadlines guide.

Task 6: Pension contributions before 5 April

A pension contribution made before 5 April uses this year's allowance, and pension tax relief is one of the few ways a higher-rate taxpayer can still get full-rate relief on income. The annual allowance is £60,000 for 2025/26, tapered down where adjusted income exceeds £260,000 and threshold income exceeds £200,000 (with a £10,000 floor).

The landlord-specific catch is that rental profit is not relevant earnings for pension tax relief. Your tax-relievable contribution is capped by your earnings from employment or self-employment (or £3,600 gross if you have none), not by your rental income. So a contribution makes sense where you have other earned income alongside your portfolio. It is also one of the few levers that genuinely reduces the income figure Section 24 bites against, because a pension contribution extends your basic-rate band.

Worked example. A landlord with £55,000 of employment income and a sizeable rental portfolio pays £20,000 into a personal pension before 5 April. Because the contribution is within their earnings and their annual allowance, it attracts basic-rate relief at source and the higher-rate element is reclaimed through their tax return, reducing the income on which higher-rate tax bites. The rental profit plays no part in setting the contribution limit.

Task 7: Review your portfolio structure (and the 2027 rates)

Year-end is a natural point to look at how the portfolio is held, without rushing the decision. Two reversible moves are worth modelling now: inter-spouse transfers to balance rental income across tax bands (the default 50/50 split for jointly held property can be varied with a Form 17 election where ownership is unequal), and the timing of major deductible expenditure, which is more valuable in a higher-profit year.

The April 2027 rates, stated correctly. From 6 April 2027, property income in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is taxed at separate rates of 22% basic, 42% higher and 47% additional. These were announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 and enacted by the Finance Act 2026 (sections 6 and 7), which received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026. Only Scotland is carved out, so Scottish taxpayers pay the Scottish income tax rates on their property income. (Section 8 and Schedule 2 hold a future power for Wales and Scotland to set their own property income rates, but it is not in force for 2027/28.) This is current law, not a proposal. Crucially, the Section 24 finance-cost reducer rises to 22% at the same time (Schedule 1), so it tracks the new basic rate: no new wedge opens for basic-rate landlords, and the higher and additional-rate wedge stays the same width as now. See the 2027 property income tax rates guide for the full picture.

Section 24 versus a limited company. The decision most portfolio landlords are weighing is whether to keep holding personally (where Section 24 caps finance-cost relief at the basic rate) or to incorporate (where a company deducts finance costs in full before corporation tax). There is no single right answer, but the variables that decide it are consistent.

Factor	Held personally (Section 24)	Held in a limited company
Finance-cost relief	Basic-rate credit only (20% for 2025/26, rising to 22% from 2027/28)	Full deduction against profit before corporation tax
Tax on profit	Property income tax (separate 22/42/47 rates from 6 April 2027)	Corporation tax on company profit; further tax when profit is extracted
Extracting cash	Profit is yours after tax	Salary, dividends or repayment of a director's loan, each with its own tax treatment
Cost to move existing properties in	None (already held personally)	Potential CGT on transfer (unless incorporation relief applies) plus SDLT/LBTT/LTT
Ongoing admin	Self Assessment, plus MTD from April 2026 if over £50,000	Company accounts, CT600, Confirmation Statement; outside MTD for Income Tax
Best suited to	Smaller or basic-rate portfolios, or where a sale is near	Higher-rate landlords reinvesting profit and building scale

Incorporation can still help some portfolio landlords, particularly those reinvesting profits or building scale. But it brings capital gains tax on the transfer (unless incorporation relief applies), stamp duty land tax in England and Northern Ireland (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax plus the Additional Dwelling Supplement in Scotland, Land Transaction Tax in Wales), and ongoing company compliance, so it is a modelling exercise rather than a year-end deadline. Where a company is already in place, planning the director's loan account (drawing down what you originally lent the company, tax-free, before taking dividends) is often the most efficient extraction step. See the buy-to-let limited company guide and how to incorporate rental property without triggering CGT.

Task 8: Compliance calendar and special cases

Set out the dates for the year ahead. The 31 January 2027 deadline covers both the 2025/26 Self Assessment return and the balancing payment, alongside the first payment on account for 2026/27. For landlords moving into MTD, the quarterly cycle runs in parallel from 6 April 2026, so build both into the same calendar. If you are filing rental income for the first time, our step-by-step landlord Self Assessment guide walks through the SA105 property pages.

A few situations need a specific year-end check:

• Non-resident landlords should confirm their Non-resident Landlord Scheme position is current, so rent is received without 20% withheld where they hold HMRC approval, and should remember the 60-day reporting obligation on every UK disposal.
• Former furnished holiday lets are now taxed as standard residential property after the FHL regime was abolished from 6 April 2025, so check that finance costs are now in the Section 24 calculation and that you are not still treating profits as relevant earnings for pensions.
• HMO landlords should make sure licensing fees, fire-safety works and the multi-tenant apportionment of running costs are captured; the council tax position on individual HMO rooms is also changing, so review how your properties are banded.
• Commercial landlords should review whether an option-to-tax election still suits each property for VAT.
• Anyone with capital allowance pools should note the main-pool writing-down allowance falls to 14% from April 2026 (Finance Act 2026, section 28), with the special rate pool unchanged at 6%; a straddling period uses a time-apportioned rate.

For ongoing portfolio performance rather than the April tax deadline, the separate property portfolio review checklist covers yield, voids, refinancing and EPC planning.

When year-end planning needs a specialist

Most of this checklist is straightforward record-keeping and timing. The judgement calls (whether a spouse transfer is worth doing before a sale, how much to contribute to a pension, whether incorporation stacks up) are where a property tax specialist earns their place. In one anonymised case, a portfolio landlord used a pre-year-end spouse transfer to bank a second annual exempt amount and shift part of a gain to a basic-rate band, materially reducing the tax on a planned disposal, simply because the transfer completed before 5 April rather than after.

The combination of the MTD mandate landing in April 2026 and the enacted 2027 rate changes means more landlords than usual have a reason to take advice this year. A property accountant can confirm your reliefs are being used, get your records MTD-ready, and model the structural questions before they become urgent. If that would help, the form on this page routes your details to a specialist who works with landlords on exactly this.