HM Revenue and Customs is consulting on proposals that would require letting agents and tenancy deposit schemes to report landlords' rental income on a regular basis, replacing the current system of individual information requests. The consultation, Improving Property Income Data Reporting, opened on 28 October 2026 and closes on 20 January 2027.

Under the current system, HMRC issues a notice each time it requires information from a data holder such as a letting agent or deposit scheme. HMRC says it issues more than 10,000 such notices each year, and that the data it receives can be incomplete, difficult to match accurately to taxpayer records, and received too late to support timely compliance work.

What would change

The proposal would replace one-off notices with a standing, standardised digital reporting framework. Letting agents acting for UK-based landlords of UK homes, and all authorised tenancy deposit schemes, would report regularly without HMRC having to issue an individual notice for each reporting cycle. HMRC says a structured digital format, such as XML or JSON, would improve consistency, automate validation and error checking, and help find information more quickly.

The consultation seeks views on what information to collect, including taxpayer identifiers, reporting frequency and data quality standards. Options include monthly or quarterly reporting, submitted within a month, two weeks, or less.

Why HMRC says change is needed

HMRC said improved data quality would enable it to deliver better services for taxpayers while strengthening compliance activity.

The proposals are not yet law, and frequency, deadlines and details are not finalised. The government recognises they would create new obligations for many letting agents, including firms that do not currently report to HMRC.

Sources

GOV.UK: Improving property income data reporting consultation
Letting Agent Today: HMRC wants agents to file more rental tax data