MTD - Landlord - Uneven Property Split Q5

How-to
1

We are using Quickfile for properties owned in our personal names.

We need to get ready for MTD and I’m wondering if I can do this in quickfile or if I need to change systems.

There are 2 directors who will need to fill in a self assessment. 1 director owns 99% of the property portfolio and the other 1%.

How do we set this up. There doesn’t seem to be an option to specify the directors and the splits.

Any help appreciated.

2

Hello @ilprop

You are referring to the people as directors suggesting it is a limited company account.

The MTD ITSA module is not available in limited companies as it is for self assessment (submitting individual tax returns. not for limited companies)

Each person submitting a MTD IT Self Assessment needs their own account storing their own income to be pulled onto the return.

Apportioning an Update

In certain circumstances, your income and expenditure may need to be apportioned - for example, where amounts must be shared with a partner or spouse. In such cases, you can apply an apportionment percentage to a cumulative update before it is submitted to HMRC. QuickFile will then report only the adjusted totals.
Find out how to apportion a cumulative update

3

Hi. They’re owned in personal names. Sorry Director is the wrong term to use.

We have a portfolio where 99% are owned in one persons name and 1% in another.

Having two separate accounts isn’t viable for this e.g. we get a single rent payment for each property and pay a single mortgage payment for each property.

The bank feed we pay for will auto import the payments in the account. It’s not practical to set up 2 bank accounts and get all tenants to split the payment. Likewise with the mortgages. They’re all direct debits and will come out of one account.

Please confirm as it sounds like I need to find another product.

4

Hello @ilprop

As the properties are owned in personal names, each individual who is mandated for MTD for Income Tax, or chooses to join MTD voluntarily, will need their own QuickFile account connected to their own HMRC Individual Tax Account.

You do not need to duplicate the bookkeeping or arrange for tenants and mortgage providers to split the payments. The full property records can remain in one main QuickFile account, with the relevant share then apportioned and shared with the other owner’s account.

The recommended setup would be as follows:

Step 1: Set up the main QuickFile account
The QuickFile account belonging to the 99% owner should be used as the main bookkeeping account.

  • Record 100% of the property income and expenses in this account.
  • Connect the existing bank feed to this account.
  • Continue recording the full rent receipts, mortgage payments and other property transactions as normal.
  • Do not split the underlying transactions between the two accounts.

Step 2: Create a QuickFile account for the 1% owner
Create a separate QuickFile account for the 1% owner.

  • This account will be used to receive the apportioned property figures from the main account and, where applicable, submit the 1% owner’s own MTD filings.
  • If the 1% owner is mandated for MTD, or chooses to join MTD voluntarily, this account should be connected to their own HMRC Individual Tax Account.

Guide: Connecting an HMRC Tax Account

Step 3: Link the two QuickFile accounts

  • From the 99% owner’s main QuickFile account, add the 1% owner’s QuickFile account using the Link to Account option.
  • The 1% owner should then approve the request using the Link From option within their own QuickFile account.
  • Once approved, the main account will be able to share apportioned Cumulative Updates with the linked account without duplicating the bookkeeping.

Guide: Sharing and Importing a Cumulative Update

Step 4: Prepare and submit the 99% owner’s Cumulative Update
From the main account:

  1. Go to Reports > HMRC.
  2. Open the Self Assessment Workspace.
  3. Select New Update.
  4. Choose the UK property business and the relevant reporting period.
  5. Review the figures, which will initially contain 100% of the property income and expenses.
  6. Apply a 99% apportionment.
  7. Submit the update to HMRC.

Applying the apportionment does not alter the underlying bookkeeping. QuickFile retains the full records but submits only the apportioned totals to HMRC.

Guide: Apportioning an Update

Step 5: Share the remaining 1%
Once the 99% owner’s apportioned update has been submitted, use the sharing option to send the remaining 1% to the linked QuickFile account.
The sharing option is available once:

  • The accounts have been linked;
  • The apportionment has been applied; and
  • The main update has been submitted.

Step 6: Import and submit the 1% owner’s Cumulative Update
The 1% owner should then:

  1. Log in to their own QuickFile account.
  2. Open the Self Assessment Workspace.
  3. Import the shared Cumulative Update.
  4. Review the figures containing their 1% share.
  5. Submit the update to HMRC if they are mandated for MTD, or have chosen to join MTD voluntarily.

This approach means the 99% owner reports 99% and the 1% owner reports 1%, while all of the bookkeeping and bank feed activity remains in a single QuickFile account.

If both QuickFile accounts are used to submit MTD updates, each account will require its own Power User subscription.

If you have an Affinity account, both QuickFile accounts can be managed from a single login while keeping each individual’s QuickFile account separate.

Guide: QuickFile Affinity Overview

5

Thanks for the reply. I’ll look to do this. Is there a way of back dating all the transactions for the 1% or will the feed only work from the date I set up the link?

6

Hello @ilprop

Bank feeds only import 21 days worth of history (this is all that is sent to us by the banks as part of the open banking standards).

For anything older you can import a bank statement.

7

Sorry. Not the bank feed. But the 1% account would be something I would create anew. The 99% account already exists and has a bank feed from many years. Would all the historic data get put into the 1% account?

8

Hello @ilprop

Are you referring to data in the limited company account?

If so this can not be used as you mention the submissions are being done by individuals who would need their own separate sole trader account in order to do self assessment submissions.

A limited company is a completely separate legal entity

9

Not a limited company.

From the top.

Main account is sole trader. This has been running for years. - I can set this to 99% ownership as you mentioned.

Your notes proposed setting up a second sole trader account for the 1% share holder and doing some kind of sync on the data. This would be a new account.

The question is - For the second account that’s new does your sync only work from the point it’s set up and going forward or will it syncronise all historical data as well?

10

Hello @ilprop

Sorry if I mis understood.

The 1% company is just sharing the other accounts cumulative update in order to do their submission.

e.g. total value of update =£100
£1 of this would be apportioned across into the other account so it can be submitted by the account owners return.

Important Notes for Recipients:

  • Data Visibility: Only category totals, disallowables, and adjustments are imported. Detailed transactional data remains on the parent account.
  • Adjustments: Any adjustments made on the parent account are automatically apportioned. However, the recipient can edit or remove these adjustments within their own draft as needed.
11

There is no company. It’s sole trader.

Also I’ve asked if the updates are back dated. e.g. if I connect an account today will it only sync updates from today onwards or does it synchronise historic transactions as well.

12

There is no company. It’s sole trader.

The 1 % account is just sharing the other accounts cumulative update in order to do their submission.

Also I’ve asked if the updates are back dated. e.g. if I connect an account today will it only sync updates from today onwards or does it synchronise historic transactions as well.

When you create an update is is based on all the transactions in the data at that point in time for the date range of the update E.G. 06/04/2026-05/07/2026

13

Thanks. I’ll give this a try and hopefully it works. Must admit this seems overly complex to set up using multiple accounts and setting up synchronisation between accounts.

I was hoping for a simpler solution where you could just enter the ownership split on the main account and do the postings from there. Don’t mind paying the 2 subscriptions. Just a bit of a pain setting up two accounts. e.g. I can’t use the same email on both accounts.