Keep your books for Making Tax Digital

Books keeps your property income and expenses the way Making Tax Digital for Income Tax asks, and exports them for the software or accountant that sends your updates. The app isn’t HMRC-recognised software, and it doesn’t send anything to HMRC.

1. Under Account, open Money, then Books.
2. Tap Add Expense or Add Income.
3. Enter the Date, or Date received for income, and the Amount (£).
4. Choose the HMRC category. The hint under it says what goes in it.
5. Choose the Property, or The whole business for a cost that isn’t for one property, such as an accountant’s fee.
6. If you like, add who it was Paid to or Paid by, and What it was for.
7. To keep a photo or PDF of the receipt with it, tap Choose Receipt.
8. Tap Add Expense or Add Income again.

Enter the whole amount: your share of a jointly owned property is worked out from it. Rent you mark received under Rent goes in by itself, and a closed repair with a cost offers Add to Books. To change an entry, tap Change on it under Records, then Save Changes, or Remove Entry. Records shows the newest month, and the button under it shows the months before.

Your share of a jointly owned property

1. Open Your share of each property, and tap Change Share beside the property.
2. Enter Your share (%), and the date it applies From.
3. Tap Save Share.

Records from that date are kept at your share.

Choose your update periods

1. Under Quarterly update periods, tap Change Periods.
2. Under Periods, choose standard periods or calendar quarters.
3. Tap Save Periods.

This changes only how the app groups your records: calendar quarters are an election you make with HMRC through your software. The app doesn’t know whether an update was sent.

Export your books

1. Open a quarter under Quarterly update periods and tap Export in it, or tap Export on the card for the whole tax year.
2. Choose Records, One Row Each or Totals by HMRC Category.

Each is a CSV file, to import into your bridging software or send to your accountant.

What the law says

• Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began on 6 April 2026 for qualifying income, meaning self-employment and property income before expenses, over a threshold.
• The threshold is lower from April 2027, and lower again from April 2028, and GOV.UK says which tax year’s income counts for each.
• With the standard update periods, the quarterly update deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, the last in the following tax year. Calendar update periods can be chosen instead.

Making Tax Digital for landlords: who’s in and when gives each threshold and start date.

Try it in the sample account