MTD Setup for Joint Owners

Overview

If you jointly own rental properties, HMRC requires each owner to submit their own Making Tax Digital (MTD) updates using their share of the property's income and expenses.

Whether you own properties with your spouse, partner, family member or business partner, PaTMa makes it easy for each owner to submit their own return while sharing the same property data.

This guide walks you through the complete process, from checking your property ownership through to submitting your quarterly updates.

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Step 1: Check Your Property Ownership

Before linking your HMRC account, take a moment to check that the property's ownership is recorded correctly.

PaTMa uses the ownership records to calculate each owner's share of rental income and expenses for MTD. Spending a few minutes checking them now can save you having to correct submissions later.

Navigate to:

1. Your Portfolio
2. Select the property
3. Open the Ownership tab

Here you should check:

• Who owns the property
• Each owner's ownership percentage
• Whether any ownership changes have been recorded

If everything looks correct, you're ready to move on.

Has the Ownership Changed?

Perhaps you've recently:

• Added your spouse as a joint owner
• Bought out another owner
• Transferred part of the property to a family member
• Sold the property

Whenever the legal ownership changes, record it in PaTMa before submitting your next MTD return.

Select:

Add Sale / Change of Owners

Enter the date the ownership legally changed.

This date is important because PaTMa uses it to determine which owner should receive future income and expenses for MTD purposes.

Next, select Edit Current Owners.

Here you can:

• Add new owners
• Remove previous owners
• Update ownership percentages

When you save the changes, PaTMa automatically:

• Preserves your historic ownership records
• Applies the new ownership from the effective date
• Uses the correct ownership split for future MTD submissions

If you'd like to review previous ownership arrangements, select View Ownership History.

Good to know: Updating ownership won't rewrite your historic financial records. It simply tells PaTMa when the new ownership arrangement begins.

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Step 2: Connect Your HMRC Account

To connect PaTMa to HMRC, you'll need your:

• National Insurance Number (NINO)
• Government Gateway account

If you've not yet registered for Making Tax Digital (MTD), you'll need to complete that with HMRC before continuing.

Each owner must connect their own Government Gateway account. Even though you're sharing the same property information, each MTD submission belongs to an individual.

Navigate to:

Tax → Making Tax Digital (MTD)

Enter your National Insurance Number (NINO) and select Start.

You'll be redirected to the Government Gateway website.

Sign in using your own Government Gateway account and select Give permission.

You'll then return to PaTMa.

Good to know: Once authorised, your HMRC connection remains active for 18 months before you'll need to reconnect.

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Step 3: Choose the Properties You're Reporting

Now choose which properties you want to include in your MTD submission.

Only include properties that you personally own or part-own.

For each property, select your own ownership percentage.

PaTMa will automatically calculate each person's share of:

• Rental income
• Allowable expenses

There's no need to work these figures out yourself.

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Step 4: The Other Owner Does the Same

The second owner should now repeat the same process using:

• Their own PaTMa user account
• Their own Government Gateway account
• Their own ownership percentages

Although both users may be looking at the same properties, their MTD submissions remain completely separate.

Each owner only reports their own share of the property's income and expenses.

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Step 5: Review and Submit Each Quarter

Once your setup is complete, there's very little to do until the end of the quarter.

When your submission period arrives, navigate to:

Tax → Making Tax Digital (MTD)

You'll see separate sections for:

• UK Property
• Foreign Property

If you don't own any overseas properties, you can simply ignore the Foreign Property section.

Select Review for the relevant quarter.

PaTMa will display your share of:

• Rental income
• Allowable expenses

Take a few moments to check everything looks correct.

If you're happy with the figures, select Submit to HMRC.

Good to know: If you later discover a mistake, you can correct your records and submit an updated quarterly return. Alternatively, corrected figures on your next return will also fix any issues.

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Before You Submit

Before sending your return, take one final look at the top of the MTD page.

PaTMa clearly shows which landlord's HMRC account is currently connected.

This is a quick way to confirm you're submitting the correct return for the correct person.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most setup issues come down to one of these:

• Selecting 100% ownership when you only own part of the property.
• Forgetting to update the Ownership tab after a legal ownership change.
• Connecting the wrong Government Gateway account.
• Skipping the review before submitting.

Taking a few extra moments to check these areas can help prevent incorrect submissions.

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A Quick Tip

Think of the Ownership tab as the source of truth.

Once your ownership records are accurate, setting up MTD becomes straightforward:

1. Check the property's ownership details.
2. Record any ownership changes.
3. Each owner connects their own HMRC account.
4. Each owner selects their own ownership percentage.
5. Review your figures each quarter.
6. Submit your own MTD return.

PaTMa takes care of the calculations, ensuring each owner reports the correct share of the property's income and expenses while maintaining a complete ownership history.