It has been described as the biggest change to UK self-assessment in nearly three decades. Whether that is the right framing depends on what you measure. The substance of the income tax (rates, bands, allowable expenses, Section 24, the 6 April to 5 April tax year) does not change. The payment dates (31 January balancing plus first payment on account, 31 July second payment on account) do not change. The SA105 schema you have been filing against for years does not change. What changes is the reporting cadence: one annual touch-point becomes six.
That sounds like a lot. In practice, once the discipline is bedded in, the annual time burden for an organised landlord is broadly comparable to a clean annual filing. The shock is the transition, not the steady state. This page sets the two regimes side by side at every level: cycle, deadlines, software, penalties, payment. Then it works the same landlord through a 2026/27 tax year mapped to both cycles to make the comparison concrete, addresses five common misconceptions, and finishes with a 12-month MTD calendar so you can see what each month actually looks like.
The headline difference, one chart
| Current Self Assessment | MTD ITSA | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of submissions per year | 1 (SA100 + supplementary pages) | 6 (4 quarterly + EoPS + final declaration) |
| Reporting cadence | Annual | Quarterly + year-end |
| Payment cadence | Twice a year (31 Jan + 31 Jul) | Twice a year (31 Jan + 31 Jul), unchanged |
That is the whole headline. Payment did not multiply by six; reporting did. The misconception that MTD means "I pay tax quarterly" is the single most common confusion landlords arrive with, and it is wrong.
The full side-by-side
The same comparison at the next level of detail, across the seven dimensions that actually differ:
| Dimension | Current Self Assessment | MTD ITSA |
|---|---|---|
| Tax year | 6 April to 5 April | 6 April to 5 April (unchanged) |
| Filing deadline (paper) | 31 October following tax year | Not available; MTD-compatible software only |
| Filing deadline (online) | 31 January following tax year | 4 quarterly deadlines (7 Aug, 7 Nov, 7 Feb, 7 May) + 31 Jan for EoPS + final declaration |
| Filing channel | HMRC online portal, commercial software, paper, agent | MTD-compatible software with API submission only |
| Late-submission penalty | £100 initial; £10/day after 3 months (capped at £900); 5% / 5% / 5% tax-geared at 6 / 12 / 18 months | Points-based: 1 point per missed quarterly update; £200 at 4 points; points reset after 24 months of compliance |
| Late-payment penalty | 5% of unpaid tax at 30 days, another 5% at 6 months, another 5% at 12 months | 3% of unpaid tax at day 15, +3% at day 30, +10% per annum from day 31 (Spring Statement 2025 doubled regime) |
| Payment dates | 31 January (balancing + first payment on account); 31 July (second payment on account) | Unchanged: 31 January and 31 July |
| Software requirement | None mandated | HMRC-recognised compatible software; bridging tools acceptable |
| Record retention | 5 years from 31 January after tax year (sole traders) | Same retention period; records must be digital (or bridged from spreadsheet) |
| Threshold to be in | Any taxpayer with self-assessable income (e.g. property rents above £2,500) | £50,000 gross qualifying income (April 2026 cohort), dropping to £30,000 (April 2027) and £20,000 (April 2028) |
What stays exactly the same
The list of things that do not change under MTD ITSA is longer than the list of things that do. The structural elements of the income tax system are untouched:
- The tax year. 6 April to 5 April, unchanged.
- The payment dates. 31 January balancing payment plus first payment on account; 31 July second payment on account. Unchanged.
- The income tax rates and bands. 20% basic-rate, 40% higher-rate, 45% additional-rate. Unchanged.
- The personal allowance. Unchanged through MTD (the freeze on the personal allowance through 2027/28 was set in earlier policy and is unaffected by the digital reform).
- Section 24 finance-cost restriction. The 20% basic-rate credit on mortgage interest for individual landlords continues unchanged; the credit cap (lower of three figures) continues unchanged.
- Allowable expenses. What counts against rental profit (letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance, insurance, utilities during voids, professional fees, allowable travel) is unchanged. Capital allowances rules on chattels are unchanged.
- The SA105 schema. The boxes you have been filing against for years remain the structural categorisation of property income for reporting; the quarterly updates submit against the same schema.
- Joint-property treatment. Default 50/50 split for spouses absent Form 17; actual beneficial split for unmarried co-owners. Unchanged. The qualifying-income test reads each owner's share, not the property's total (see our jointly-owned property page for the mechanic).
- Capital gains tax. CGT on property disposals is a separate regime, reported via the 60-day return for residential disposals, and the SA-side or final declaration for the annual reconciliation. CGT is unchanged by MTD ITSA.
- NRL scheme. The non-resident landlord scheme (withholding tax mechanics) operates alongside MTD ITSA, not in place of it.
What is genuinely new
The new things, by contrast, are concentrated in the reporting wrapper:
- Quarterly digital updates. Four submissions a year of cumulative income and expenses for the period, due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May (for the standard 5-of-month quarter-end). Calendar-quarter elections (31 March / 30 June / 30 September / 31 December quarter-ends) are available from 6 April 2026.
- End-of-Period Statement (EoPS). A formal year-end reconciliation that adjusts the cumulative quarterly figures for capital allowances, private-use adjustments, prepayments and accruals if relevant, and any expense reclassifications. Due 31 January following the tax year.
- Final declaration. The MTD-cycle equivalent of the SA100. Declares any income outside the MTD streams (employment, dividends, savings interest, capital gains), claims reliefs, finalises the tax liability. Due 31 January following the tax year.
- MTD-compatible software mandate. No paper or HMRC-portal filing available for in-scope income; commercial software with API submission required.
- Points-based late-submission penalties. 1 point per missed quarterly update, £200 at the 4-point threshold (under FA 2021 Sch 24). Points reset after 24 months of compliance.
- Accelerated late-payment regime. Spring Statement 2025 doubled regime for MTD ITSA cohorts: 3% of unpaid tax at day 15, +3% at day 30, +10% per annum from day 31. Bites earlier than the legacy SA late-payment schedule.
- Digital record-keeping requirement. Records of income and expenses must be kept in digital form, either natively (in MTD-compatible software) or in a spreadsheet bridged to MTD-compatible bridging software. Manual ledger or paper-based records alone do not satisfy the requirement.
Worked example, same landlord on both cycles
Consider an individual landlord with a small portfolio:
- Three buy-to-let properties in Greater Manchester, total gross rents £62,000 in 2026/27.
- Allowable expenses (agent fees, repairs, insurance, void utilities, professional fees) £14,000.
- Mortgage interest £18,000 (treated under S24, not deducted, 20% credit applied).
- Net rental profit before S24 credit: £62,000 - £14,000 = £48,000.
- Tax-relevant profit: £48,000.
- Higher-rate income tax on the £48,000 (taxpayer is otherwise at higher-rate threshold from employment): 40% of £48,000 = £19,200 gross tax.
- S24 20% credit on £18,000 mortgage interest: £3,600 credit (subject to cap; in this case the cap does not bite).
- Net income tax on the rental profit: £19,200 - £3,600 = £15,600.
Under the current SA cycle, the landlord's 2026/27 timeline is:
- April 2026 onward: keep records during the year (in whatever form works).
- 31 July 2026: pay the 2025/26 second payment on account (£X based on 2025/26 liability).
- Some time between April 2027 and January 2028: prepare and file the SA100 + SA105 for 2026/27, online via the HMRC portal or commercial software.
- 31 January 2028: file the SA100 for 2026/27. Pay the 2026/27 balancing payment plus 2027/28 first payment on account.
- 31 July 2028: pay the 2027/28 second payment on account.
That is one filing event (2026/27 SA100) and two payment events (31 Jan 2028, 31 Jul 2028) per tax year.
Under MTD ITSA, the same landlord's 2026/27 timeline is:
- April 2026 onward: keep records in MTD-compatible software, with bank-feed import and digital expense capture.
- 31 July 2026: pay the 2025/26 second payment on account (unchanged).
- 7 August 2026: file Q1 quarterly update (covering 6 April to 5 July 2026 rental income and expenses).
- 7 November 2026: file Q2 quarterly update (covering 6 April to 5 October 2026 cumulative).
- 7 February 2027: file Q3 quarterly update (covering 6 April to 5 January 2027 cumulative).
- 7 May 2027: file Q4 quarterly update (covering the full 2026/27 tax year).
- Through 2027: prepare year-end adjustments (capital allowances, private-use, reclassifications) for the EoPS.
- 31 January 2028: file the EoPS for 2026/27 + the final declaration for 2026/27. Pay the 2026/27 balancing payment plus 2027/28 first payment on account.
- 31 July 2028: pay the 2027/28 second payment on account.
That is six filing events (4 quarterly + EoPS + final declaration) and two payment events (31 Jan 2028, 31 Jul 2028) per tax year. The same £15,600 in tax is paid on the same two dates. The reporting cadence multiplies; the payment cadence is unchanged.
Five common misconceptions
Misconception 1: I will pay tax quarterly under MTD
No. The payment dates (31 January and 31 July) are unchanged. Quarterly updates are reporting submissions, not payment obligations. HMRC may show you an in-year estimate of liability based on your quarterly data in the business tax account, but it is not a demand for payment.
Misconception 2: The quarterly update is a tax calculation
No. The quarterly update is a digital submission of cumulative income and expenses for the period (Q1 covers 6 April to 5 July; Q2 cumulative covers 6 April to 5 October; and so on). It does not compute a tax figure. The tax calculation happens annually via the final declaration.
Misconception 3: I can stick with paper SA returns
Only if you are out of scope of MTD ITSA. If your qualifying income is above the cohort threshold and you have no structural exemption (Ltd Co, partnership, trustee, digital exclusion), paper filing is no longer available for your in-scope income.
Misconception 4: My agent or accountant will deal with all of it without changes
Partly true, partly not. Agents file MTD updates through the Agent Services Account using the same MTD-compatible software your records sit in. But the digital record-keeping requirement is on the taxpayer: the records must be kept in digital form during the year, not handed to the agent as paper receipts in January. The cleanest agent relationships are the ones where the landlord has built a clean digital bookkeeping discipline through the year and the agent is responsible only for the quarterly submission and year-end reconciliation.
Misconception 5: The penalty for missing a quarterly deadline is £200
Not on the first missed deadline. The points-based regime accrues 1 point per missed update; the £200 penalty applies once 4 points are accumulated (for quarterly filers). A landlord who misses one quarterly deadline gets 1 point; a landlord who misses four within a 24-month rolling window gets £200 and continues at £200 for further misses while at threshold. Points reset after 24 months of full compliance. The £200 figure circulates as if it applies to every missed deadline, which is wrong.
A 12-month MTD calendar for a landlord
What does each month actually look like once MTD is bedded in?
| Month | Routine activity | Submission |
|---|---|---|
| April | Bank-feed reconciliation; new tax year starts 6 April | None |
| May | Bank-feed reconciliation; expense capture | None |
| June | Bank-feed reconciliation; expense capture | None |
| July | Q1 quarter-end 5 July; prepare Q1 figures; second payment on account due 31 July | None this month (Q1 due 7 August) |
| August | Bank-feed reconciliation | Q1 quarterly update due 7 August |
| September | Bank-feed reconciliation; expense capture | None |
| October | Q2 quarter-end 5 October; prepare Q2 figures (cumulative 6 Apr to 5 Oct) | None this month (Q2 due 7 November) |
| November | Bank-feed reconciliation | Q2 quarterly update due 7 November |
| December | Bank-feed reconciliation; year-end planning conversations | None |
| January | Q3 quarter-end 5 January; prepare Q3 figures (cumulative 6 Apr to 5 Jan); balancing payment + first payment on account due 31 January; prior-year EoPS + final declaration due 31 January | EoPS + final declaration for prior tax year due 31 January |
| February | Bank-feed reconciliation | Q3 quarterly update due 7 February |
| March | Tax-year-end planning (5 April approaches) | None |
| April (year-end) | Q4 quarter-end 5 April; year-end stock-take; capital allowances review | None this month (Q4 due 7 May) |
| May | Bank-feed reconciliation | Q4 quarterly update due 7 May |
Most months are light: 20-30 minutes a week of bank-feed reconciliation and expense capture. Once a quarter, a slightly heavier session (1-2 hours) to finalise the quarterly numbers and submit. Once a year, a more substantial session for the EoPS adjustments and final declaration. The annual time burden, for an organised landlord, is broadly comparable to what they previously spent on a clean annual SA filing; the difference is that the work is spread through the year rather than piled into January.
Where this page sits in the wider MTD picture
The side-by-side comparison is one of the structural pages in the MTD ITSA bucket. The substantive pages that handle each adjacent topic:
- The switching workflow (mirror of this page): How to switch from Self Assessment to MTD for property income.
- The deadlines anchor: MTD quarterly deadlines 2026 / 2027 for landlords.
- The SA-side workflow if you're still on annual: Landlord tax return complete guide 2026.
- The pillar: Making Tax Digital for property income complete guide.
- The bucket overview: MTD ITSA overview: six changes.
- The quarterly-reporting process page: MTD quarterly reporting step by step.
- The SA-side process page: How to complete a landlord self assessment filing.
- The trigger-event page for landlords just receiving the HMRC letter: MTD ITSA letter from HMRC, what to do next.
- The mechanic on whether you are in at all: The gross-vs-net qualifying-income test.
- The exit mechanic: The MTD ITSA exit rule.
- The Ltd Co alternative: MTD ITSA vs Limited Company comparison.
When to seek advice
The comparison is straightforward to understand; the operational transition is where landlords commonly need help. Choosing the right MTD-compatible software for the portfolio shape, setting up bank feeds across multiple property-bank accounts, deciding whether to keep the existing accountant or move to one with stronger MTD agent workflows, and timing the first quarterly submission for portfolios that were previously casual about in-year record-keeping, all benefit from a short advisory conversation before the first cycle bites. The cost of getting the first three months wrong is mostly recoverable; the cost of getting the first three quarterly submissions wrong is harder to unwind.