Quick answer
If you own a rental property with someone else, only your share of the rent counts towards your MTD threshold. Two owners splitting £50,000 of rent equally each have £25,000 of qualifying income. Joint owners can also use simplified record-keeping for their share of jointly let property.
Only your share counts
HMRC counts your share of the property income towards your qualifying income. If you and your sibling jointly own a property that brings in £50,000 a year, split equally, and neither of you has other self-employment or property income, you each have qualifying income of £25,000.
If you only receive your share after expenses have been taken off, HMRC uses that figure.
Do both owners need MTD?
Each owner is assessed separately. Your share of the joint rent is added to any other self-employment and property income you have. So one owner can be in MTD while the other isn’t.
For example, Sam and Alex let a flat for £24,000 a year and split it 50/50. Sam also has a sole trade with £40,000 of turnover, so Sam’s qualifying income is £52,000 and Sam is in MTD from April 2026. Alex only has a salary, so Alex’s qualifying income is £12,000 and Alex isn’t.
Married couples and civil partners
For income tax, rent from property jointly owned by spouses or civil partners is usually split 50/50, unless you’ve made a Form 17 declaration that you own it in unequal shares. Use the split that applies to you for tax.
Simplified records for joint property
HMRC lets joint owners use two easements for their share of jointly let property. You can use either or both:
Income: keep one digital record for each category of property income in each quarterly period, instead of recording every rent payment.
Expenses: keep one digital record for each category of property expense for the whole tax year. This means you don’t have to send quarterly expense figures for jointly owned property.
This helps where one owner keeps the detailed records, which HMRC notes is common. The rules are in HMRC’s digital record-keeping direction.
What to do now
Confirm each owner’s share of the income for tax.
Work out each owner’s qualifying income, including their other self-employment and property income.
Agree who keeps the detailed records and how the figures are shared.
Choose software that supports jointly owned property.
Each owner who’s over the threshold signs up separately.
See also our guide to MTD for landlords and the official guidance on working out qualifying income.