HMRC relaxes MTD rules for joint property owners

HMRC has recently published a digital record-keeping notice in relation to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD ITSA). The notice includes, amongst other things, confirmation of two easements for joint property owners. Joint property owners using MTD ITSA can save time by:

1. Reporting gross rental income from jointly held properties in their quarterly updates, and report expenses later as part of the year end finalisation process; and
2. Creating a single digital record for each category of income from jointly held properties and a single digital record for each category of expense from jointly held properties.

However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is concerned that there is no mention of how joint owners should report income if they only receive the net profit share figure. Under self-assessment, it is currently sufficient to report this as a single figure, but it appears this is not being replicated under MTD ITSA (subject to further announcements). It is also unclear whether that relaxation will continue to apply to self-assessment and the ICAEW has approached HMRC for confirmation.