What MTD-compatible Software Has to Do

Every guide on this site uses the phrase "MTD-compatible software" without stopping to define it, because until now there hasn't been a single place that pins the term down. HMRC does define it, in detail, on the page that tells you how to choose that software: three specific jobs the software has to do, two genuinely different types of product, and a category called "bridging software" that a lot of landlords assume is some kind of shortcut or a lesser option. It isn't. Here's what GOV.UK actually says, quoted directly rather than paraphrased from memory, checked live the day this page was written.

Compatible software has to do three specific things

GOV.UK sets the requirement out in a single sentence with three distinct parts, and it's worth reading the whole thing rather than the summary version most guides give you: you, or an agent on your behalf, will need to use commercial software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax to: create, store and correct digital records of your self-employment and property income and expenses; send your quarterly updates to HMRC — these are summaries of your self-employment and property income and expenses, they are not tax returns; add any other income sources you have and submit your tax return by 31 January the following year. That's the whole obligation in one place: records, updates, and a return. Nothing in that sentence is optional, and nothing beyond it is required.

The requirement applies once you're mandated. From 6 April 2026, the first wave of sole traders and landlords needs software that can do all three, not just one or two of them. The middle part is the one most people misread first: quarterly updates are summaries of your self-employment and property figures, they are explicitly not tax returns, GOV.UK says so in the same sentence. The actual return, the one that folds in pensions, savings, dividends and everything else MTD doesn't track, is the final declaration, due 31 January 2028 for the first mandated year. We cover exactly how that folding-in works, with GOV.UK's own wording, in our final declaration guide, and the full quarterly calendar in our quarterly filing dates guide.

Bridging software is one of two software types, not a lesser one

GOV.UK splits compatible software into exactly two types, and neither one is presented as the "real" option with the other as a workaround. The first type creates your digital records for you, by linking to your bank account, scanning receipts, or letting you enter figures manually. The second type takes a different approach entirely: this type of software will connect to existing records kept in spreadsheets or other accounting tools. It is sometimes referred to as 'bridging software'. For example, if you use spreadsheets to record income and expenses, bridging software can connect to them and make your submissions to HMRC. That's the entire definition, straight from GOV.UK: software that plugs into records you already keep, rather than replacing how you keep them.

The four landlord platforms we've compared on price all sit on the other side of that split. Each one builds its own record-keeping and portfolio management, with MTD filing added on as a feature inside a wider product, not as a narrow bridging tool doing one job. If a full accounting platform is genuinely what you want, see how each one prices against a flat bridging fee at our Hammock comparison, Landlord Studio comparison, Landlord Vision comparison, and Coconut comparison. If you'd rather keep the spreadsheet you already run and let bridging software do the filing, the next section is the one that matters.

Bridging software can meet all three requirements on its own

This is the part the "bridging is just a stopgap" assumption gets wrong. GOV.UK states plainly that bridging products can cover the filing side of the job completely: there are some bridging software products available that let you: send quarterly updates, submit your tax return. Connecting to a spreadsheet instead of creating records from scratch doesn't stop a product from doing the other two jobs GOV.UK requires, sending updates and submitting the return, provided the specific product you pick actually includes those features. Not every bridging product does, so the feature list matters more than the category label.

GOV.UK also confirms you don't have to solve this with one product at all: if you prefer, you can choose to use more than one software product, but you can only use one product for each separate submission that you need to make to HMRC. A landlord could, in principle, keep a spreadsheet, use one bridging product to send quarterly updates, and use a different product to submit the final declaration, as long as each separate submission only ever goes through one product at a time. Most landlords won't want that complexity, which is exactly why a single bridging product that covers both jobs is worth comparing against a full accounting platform on price. Our savings calculator does that comparison for your own property count, flat bridging pricing against a per-property suite rate.

Every listed product, bridging or not, goes through the same recognition process

The category a product falls into, record-creating or bridging, has no bearing on how HMRC vets it. GOV.UK is explicit about the finder tool it recommends for choosing between them: all software listed has been through HMRC's recognition process. HMRC does not recommend any product or software provider. A bridging tool that only connects to a spreadsheet goes through the identical listing process as a full accounting platform that builds your records from scratch. Neither type gets waved through, and neither type gets an endorsement beyond appearing in the finder once it clears that process.

We're not yet listed on HMRC's software list, we'll update this page the moment that changes, but Landlord MTD Software is being built specifically as bridging software against the three-part test above: digital records held in the spreadsheet you already use, quarterly updates sent from it, and a final declaration submitted from the same place. If Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is entirely new to you, start with what Making Tax Digital for Income Tax actually is, then check which wave applies to you and how the rest of your obligations fit together in our complete guide for landlords. Join the waitlist below and we'll email you before your first deadline arrives.