As the April 2026 deadline for MTD ITSA becoming mandatory for landlords and sole traders earning over £50,000 gets ever closer, many are beginning to think that they can handle Making Tax Digital for landlords (MTD) by simply using a “good-enough software”.
But they will soon find out that they are mistaken because, in reality, most of the problems landlords will face under MTD have very little to do with technology and everything to do with tax accuracy, record-keeping discipline and HMRC compliance.
That distinction matters, because much of the software currently marketed to landlords was never designed with property tax. It was adapted from generic bookkeeping tools and repackaged for rental income. This is why a new generation of compliance-first tools, designed by accountants rather than pure software vendors, is quietly changing how landlords approach digital tax reporting.
MTD Is an Accounting Problem, Not a Software One
MTD is not merely about submitting data more frequently. It is about ensuring that the data submitted is accurate, consistent and defensible if HMRC ever asks questions.
Landlords shall quickly discover this when they move away from annual spreadsheets and into quarterly digital submissions. The challenges are rarely technical. Instead, they centre on familiar accounting issues: which expenses are allowable, how to treat mortgage interest correctly, how to allocate income between jointly owned properties, and how to keep a clean audit trail across the year.
This is where compliance-led MTD compatible software for landlords becomes critical.
How Compliance-First Design Changes the Role of MTD Software for Landlords
When software is built around property tax rules rather than generic bookkeeping logic, landlords experience changes immediately. Income and expenses are structured at the property level. Allowable categories reflect HMRC expectations. Records are stored in a way that supports both quarterly submissions and year-end finalisation.
This is the difference between software that merely files data and MTD software for landlords that actively reduces compliance risk.
RentalBux is a good example of this. Developed by property accountants who work with landlords day in, day out, it was designed to mirror how rental income is actually reviewed, adjusted, and reported for tax purposes. Instead of forcing landlords to adapt their behaviour to fit the software, the software adapts to real-world property ownership.
That design approach matters most when things are not straightforward. For example, where properties are jointly owned, profits are split unevenly or portfolios grow over time. In those scenarios, spreadsheet-based workflows and generic tools tend to break down. Compliance-led systems are built with those situations in mind from the outset.
Conclusion: The Long-Term Value of Accountant-Built Systems
As MTD becomes embedded into the UK tax system, landlords will increasingly be judged not just on whether they submit on time, but on whether their figures stand up over time. Software choices made today will shape compliance outcomes for years to come.
In that context, platforms like RentalBux represent more than just another digital solution. They reflect a broader shift towards compliance-first design where software supports correct tax outcomes, not just digital submissions.
