UK Landlord Tax Guides — open notes
Open notes on UK landlord tax: SA105 boxes, Section 24, MTD ITSA, stamp duty for buy-to-let, replacement of domestic items relief, and how the rules actually hit your bank account.
Maintained alongside LetLedger — UK landlord bookkeeping software for the SA105 and MTD ITSA. Source content lives at letledger.uk/blog and is mirrored here as plain markdown for transparency, reference, and pull-request corrections.
Not tax advice. These notes are for guidance only. Tax rules change. Always verify against gov.uk and a qualified accountant before filing.
Index
- Section 24 tax explained — mortgage interest restriction, worked examples for basic / higher / additional rate
- Rental income tax calculator (UK 2025/26) — how the income-tax calculation works for landlords
- Stamp duty buy-to-let calculator (2025/26) — SDLT, LTT, LBTT with the additional dwellings surcharge
- Making Tax Digital for landlords — what changes from April 2026, 2027, 2028
- Landlord accounting software UK — buyer’s guide — Hammock, Landlord Studio, FreeAgent, GoSimpleTax compared
Live calculators
- 🧮 Rental income tax calculator — interactive, runs in your browser, no signup
- 🧮 Stamp duty buy-to-let calculator — England/NI, Wales (LTT), Scotland (LBTT)
Why this exists
UK landlord tax is poorly explained outside paywalled accountant blogs and HMRC’s own dense PDFs. These notes try to be:
- Specific to UK residential let by individuals (not commercial, not companies)
- Up-to-date with 2025/26 thresholds
- Honest about what the rules cost in cash, not just headline rates
- Cross-referenced to the SA105 box where each item lands
Contributing
Spotted an error or a 2026/27 rate change? Open a pull request. PRs are welcome for:
- Updates when HMRC bands change
- Worked examples we missed
- Edge cases (joint ownership splits, FHL transitions, non-resident scheme)
- Plain-English rewrites where wording is dense
Please cite gov.uk or HMRC manuals where possible.
License
CC BY 4.0 — reuse, adapt, syndicate, just credit LetLedger and link back.
About LetLedger
letledger.uk — upload your bank statement, AI tags every transaction to the SA105 box it belongs in, year-end PDF in seconds. £6/mo. Free during the 2026 beta.
| Feature | Link |
|---|---|
| Landing | https://letledger.uk |
| Blog | https://letledger.uk/blog |
| Section 24 explainer | https://letledger.uk/blog/section-24-tax |
| Rental income tax calculator | https://letledger.uk/blog/rental-income-tax-calculator |
| Stamp duty BTL calculator | https://letledger.uk/blog/stamp-duty-buy-to-let-calculator |
| MTD ITSA guide | https://letledger.uk/blog/mtd-itsa-landlords |
| Landlord software comparison | https://letledger.uk/blog/landlord-accounting-software-uk |
Disclaimer
These notes are not personal tax advice. The maintainers accept no responsibility for any tax assessment, penalty, interest, surcharge or other loss arising from reliance on this content. See LetLedger’s full disclaimer and terms.