If you are a UK landlord who needs to report rental income to HMRC under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for IT), you can complete the whole process from the Landlord Studio mobile app. This guide explains how to connect your HMRC account, link an owner, map your tax categories, and submit your quarterly updates from your phone.
What you need to know
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to UK landlords only.
You need a HMRC Government Gateway user ID and password to authorise Landlord Studio to connect to HMRC on your behalf.
HMRC sets your submission deadlines. Landlord Studio shows the obligations and due dates HMRC returns for the connected owner, so it cannot show obligations until the HMRC connection is complete.
For co-owned properties, each owner reports only their share of the income and expenses. You set each owner's share in the "Allocate split ownership" step.
Open Making Tax Digital set-up
Step 1: Open the Landlord Studio mobile app and go to "Making Tax Digital" from the side menu.
Select Connect now and Landlord Studio will display the "MTD Set up" checklist with the four steps you need to complete. Each step shows a green tick once it is done.
Connect your HMRC account
Step 1: On the "MTD Set up" checklist, select "Connect your HMRC account".
Step 2: Select "Authorise now" to open HMRC's sign-in page.
Step 3: Sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password, then grant authority for Landlord Studio to interact with HMRC on your behalf.
Landlord Studio will return you to the app and mark "Connect your HMRC account" with a green tick once authority is granted.
If you do not grant authority, Landlord Studio cannot retrieve your obligations or send submissions to HMRC, so the rest of the set-up will stay locked.
Link an owner
An owner is the person whose rental income is reported to HMRC. You can link an existing owner or create a new owner within Landlord Studio.
Step 1: On the checklist, select "Link to owner".
Step 2: Choose an existing owner, or select "Create owner" to add a new one.
Step 3: Enter the owner's details, including first name, last name, email, phone, and address. These details must match the records HMRC holds for that taxpayer.
Step 4: Select "Save" to confirm the owner.
Landlord Studio will display the owner as linked and let you continue to link the owner to their properties.
Step 5: On the "Link owner to properties" screen, select the properties this owner reports for, then select "Save and continue".
Landlord Studio will associate the selected properties with the owner so their income and expenses are included in the MTD figures.
Allocate split ownership
If a property is co-owned, you tell Landlord Studio what share of the income and expenses each owner reports.
Step 1: On the checklist, select "Allocate split ownership".
Step 2: Set each owner's ownership percentage for the relevant properties, then select "Save changes".
Landlord Studio will split the figures by the percentages you set, so each owner only submits their own share.
If the ownership percentages do not add up correctly, the amounts reported to HMRC will be wrong for every owner on that property.
Set up category mapping
Category mapping tells Landlord Studio which HMRC tax category each of your income and expense categories belongs to. This is what lets the app group your transactions into the boxes HMRC expects.
Step 1: On the checklist, select "Set up category mapping".
Landlord Studio will display the "MTD Mapping" screen with your income and expense categories. Any category that still needs a tax category is flagged as "Mapping needed".
Step 2: Select each unmapped category and choose the HMRC tax category it belongs to.
Step 3: Repeat until every category shows as mapped and the status changes to "No mapping required".
Landlord Studio will mark "Set up category mapping" with a green tick once all categories are mapped.
ℹ️ Any transaction in an unmapped category is left out of your submission, so leaving a category unmapped will understate the figures you report to HMRC.
View your obligations
Once set-up is complete, the "Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" page shows the quarterly obligations HMRC has set and their due dates.
Step 1: Open "Making Tax Digital" and select the connected owner.
Landlord Studio will display each quarterly period, its date range, and whether it is open, due, or submitted.
If you see "No obligations found", HMRC has not returned any obligations for this owner yet. Check that the details provided (NINO) match HMRC's records and that the HMRC connection is still authorised.
Submit a quarterly update
Step 1: On the obligations page, select the quarter you want to submit, for example "Q1 5 Apr 2025 - 5 Jul 2025".
Landlord Studio will display the income and expense totals for that period, broken down by tax category.
Step 2: Select any category to review the individual transactions behind the total, then go back to the summary.
Step 3: When the figures are correct, select "Submit to HMRC".
Step 4: Read the declaration on the "Confirm Your Submission" screen, then select "Confirm" to send the figures to HMRC.
Landlord Studio will show a confirmation once HMRC accepts the submission.
⚠️ Submitting sends your quarterly updates directly to HMRC. Review every category before you confirm, as a submitted quarter is recorded against your HMRC obligation.
If you need help connecting to HMRC or submitting a quarterly update, reach out via the in-app chat or at support@landlordstudio.com.