If the phrase "Making Tax Digital" (MTD) gives you a knot in your stomach, you aren't alone. As HMRC moves toward more frequent digital reporting, the traditional "shoebox of receipts" method is officially becoming obsolete.
The good news? It doesn't have to be hard. In fact, if you get the right system in place now, tax season will become the easiest part of your year.
What MTD Means for Small Landlords
MTD is designed to move tax reporting from an annual "scramble" to a real-time process. For you, this means you need to be able to:
- Categorise expenses accurately (Repair vs. Improvement)
- Maintain digital records of every invoice and receipt
- Produce quarterly summaries of income and expenses
3 Tips to Simplify Your Accounting
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Log it as it happens
Don’t wait until January. Use a system where you can attach a photo of a receipt the moment you pay for a repair. -
Separate your data
Stop mixing your personal bank account with your property income. Even if you don't have a business account, keep a clear, digital ledger for your properties. -
Export, don’t re-type
If you are still re-typing numbers from a bank statement into a spreadsheet, you are wasting hours and increasing the risk of human error.
Let Doorkeep Handle It
Doorkeep was built for landlords who want to stay on top of HMRC without hiring an accountant or wrestling with spreadsheets. Here's what you get:
- Snap photos of receipts and attach them straight to the expense — no filing cabinet needed
- Filter by property so you can see exactly which one is eating into your margins
- Submit direct to HMRC from your dashboard — connect your Government Gateway account and send your quarterly figures without leaving Doorkeep
- Download CSV summaries if you'd rather hand things off to an accountant
And because Doorkeep also handles the Renters' Rights Act side — pet requests, rent increases, compliance certificates — your whole landlord admin lives in one place.
Stop dreading tax season. Start for 99p with Doorkeep and get your records sorted in minutes.