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MTD Software for
Foreign Property Landlords

Overseas rental income is the single most common reason an otherwise excellent MTD product cannot file your return. Half the directory does not support it, including several of the most complete products on the list.

HMRC directory dataScraped 17 Oct 2026Prices as of Aug 2026No affiliate links
Written by the TapTax research teamReviewed by Solomon Amos, PhDLast reviewed: 5 August 2026

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Total turnover before expenses

Under £1,000 we use the trading allowance automatically

Estimated tax bill

£6,872

15.3% effective rate for 2026/27

Income tax
£5,286
Class 4 NI
£1,586

Take-home pay

£32,128

after tax, NI and expenses

This is an estimate using GOV.UK rates for 2026/27, not your official tax calculation. TapTax is MTD-compatible, so you can connect to HMRC and file the real figures in a couple of taps.

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If you let a flat in Spain, a house in Ireland or an apartment in Dubai, your MTD software shortlist is roughly half the length you think it is. Foreign property is the quiet disqualifier: a product can be complete, cheap, well reviewed and thoroughly recognised, and still be unable to file your return.

This page uses HMRC's own grading of all 159 listed products, scraped on 17 October 2026, to show which software covers overseas rental income and which does not.

How many MTD products handle foreign property?

77of 159 (48%)handle foreign property incomeHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026

HMRC lists what each vendor declares. Feature flags, mobile-app support in particular, are vendor claims rather than verified facts, and listings change. Check with the vendor before you buy. Data: HMRC find-MTD-software service (tax.service.gov.uk), scraped 17 October 2026.

Compare that with sole trader income, graded ready in 143 of 159 (90%) products, and UK property, graded ready in 132 of 159 (83%). Foreign property is the axis where the directory genuinely divides.

One thing the directory will not tell you is who is working on it. HMRC grades income sources pass or fail: a product either handles foreign property or it does not, with no third state for a vendor to register work in progress. That middle state exists only for the 16 tax-return items, which is why you can see that Monzo intends to build a complete return but cannot see whether any product intends to add foreign property. Treat the 82 as a snapshot of today rather than a verdict, and ask the vendor if you are otherwise sold on a product that lacks it.

Foreign property income
Rental income from land or property outside the UK, reported on the SA106 foreign pages of a Self Assessment return. Under MTD for Income Tax it is a separate income source from UK property, with its own HMRC submission endpoints, and it brings its own complications: currency conversion, foreign tax credit relief for tax already paid abroad, and different rules for holiday lets in EEA countries.

The products that cover foreign property and can finish your return

Foreign property support on its own is not enough. You also want the product to complete the rest of the return, which HMRC measures as 16 tax-return items. These are the products graded ready for foreign property and ready on nine or more of those 16 items, most complete first.

33of 159 (21%)cover foreign property and have 9 or more of the 16 return items readyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026
Products graded ready for foreign property with nine or more of HMRC's 16 tax-return items, as graded on 17 October 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
@1TaxFilerNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
1 1 MTD BridgeNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
123 e-Filing MTD for Income TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
AATAXReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
AbraTax MTD for Income TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
AvonaNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
EasyTaxer.comNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
FileThat!Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
MTD 4 Income TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS16/16
MTD Companion for iPhone & iPadNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowApple iOS16/16
MTD Companion for macOSNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
QuarterwiseReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
TaxBridge UK MTD by Amelia GBReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
Abridge (MTD for Excel/Sheets)Not includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Clear BooksNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Clear Books FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Forbes MTDNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid15/16
KlettaNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
My Tax Digital (Free)Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
RentalBuxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
RentalBux FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
TaxHeavenReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
TaxUpdatesReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
untiedNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
123 SheetsNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed14/16
Capium Limited - MTD for ITNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed14/16
Acctax (Online) LtdNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed13/16
Absolute Excel Income Tax FilerNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed11/16
XeroNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS11/16
100PcMTDNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed9/16
Otis TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed9/16
Self Assessment DirectReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS9/16
VitalTaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS9/16
Products graded ready for foreign property with nine or more of HMRC's 16 tax-return items, as graded on 17 October 2026. Ready now, in development and not included are HMRC’s own grades. Income sources are the business income a product can report.

Three things stand out in that list.

It is small. Only 33 of 159 (21%) products clear both bars, and if you also want a mobile app it drops to 13 of them.

It is not the list you would predict. The household names are largely absent, and the products at the top are specialist filers, spreadsheet bridges and small independent tools rather than the brands with the biggest marketing budgets.

It is cheap at both ends. Absolute Excel Income Tax Filer works out around £8 per taxpayer a year (from £40 plus VAT covering five National Insurance numbers), MTD 4 Income Tax is £20 a year, and TaxHeaven's free Angel plan and My Tax Digital are £0. All prices as of August 2026. At the other end, Kletta lists at £29 a month for the plan that includes property, before its on-site promotional discounting.

The complete products that do not cover foreign property

This is the trap. Several products are graded ready on 15 or all 16 of the return items, which puts them among the most complete software on the directory, and are still graded not included for foreign property.

Highly complete products graded not included for foreign property, as graded on 17 October 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
QuickBooks (Intuit)Not includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
FreeAgentNot includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS16/16
QuickFile Accounting SoftwareNot includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
#GoFileNot includedReady nowReady nowNot includedNot listed15/16
Highly complete products graded not included for foreign property, as graded on 17 October 2026. Ready now, in development and not included are HMRC’s own grades. Income sources are the business income a product can report.

If you have been recommended QuickBooks, FreeAgent or QuickFile by an accountant or a comparison site, and you have overseas property, this is the line to check before anything else. They are strong products. They are not, as graded on 17 October 2026, products that can file your foreign pages.

The same applies to most of the landlord specialists, which is the more surprising finding. Landlord Studio and Nexus by Landlord Studio are both graded not included for foreign property. Coconut sat in that group until the week to 23 August 2026, when both of its listings turned foreign property ready, though it is still graded at zero of the 16 return items. Hammock is graded ready for foreign property but also at zero of the 16 return items, so both handle the income source without completing the return around it. Being built for landlords does not imply being built for overseas landlords.

Free tiers and foreign property

Free is where the overlap gets thinnest.

17of 159 (11%)list a free version that covers foreign propertyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 17 October 2026

The picture inside that group is uneven.

Products listing a free version and graded ready for foreign property, as graded on 17 October 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
Coconut FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS0/16
TaxHeavenReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
AccountsDeskReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
SimplifyMTDReady nowNot includedReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
AcxiteReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
RentalBux FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
FileThat!Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
Self Assessment DirectReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS9/16
QuarterwiseReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
Clear Books FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
TaxBridge UK MTD by Amelia GBReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
DIY TaxReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS3/16
TaxUpdatesReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
Adminsoft AccountsReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
My Tax Digital (Free)Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
Aligned.tax MTD for SpreadsheetsReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
AATAXReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed16/16
Products listing a free version and graded ready for foreign property, as graded on 17 October 2026. Ready now, in development and not included are HMRC’s own grades. Income sources are the business income a product can report.

The top of that table is genuinely usable: FileThat!, Quarterwise, AATAX, TaxBridge UK, My Tax Digital, TaxHeaven, TaxUpdates, RentalBux Free and Clear Books Free all combine £0 with foreign property and at least 15 of the 16 return items. The bottom of it is free and foreign-property-capable but graded at zero return items, which means quarterly updates only.

Two conditions worth knowing before you pick from this table. TaxHeaven's free Angel plan covers one business or income type, so a landlord with UK and overseas property should check whether that counts as one or two for their circumstances. RentalBux's free plan covers one property and, per RentalBux's own pricing in August 2026, runs free until March 2028. Our genuinely free MTD software page works through every free tier and its conditions in detail.

“Foreign property is the axis where a product's marketing and its HMRC grading diverge most sharply. Seventy-seven products can do it, eighty-two cannot, and several of the most complete products in the market are in that second group.”
TapTax, MTD directory review, 17 October 2026

What overseas landlords should actually check

Foreign property support in the directory is a yes or no flag. Your return is not. Before committing, work through these:

Does it handle more than one foreign property separately? HMRC's foreign property submissions carry per-property detail. If your software aggregates everything into one overseas figure, reconciling the final declaration gets awkward.

How does it convert currency? Rent received in euros or dirhams has to reach HMRC in sterling. Ask whether the product uses HMRC's published average rates, spot rates on the transaction date, or expects you to convert manually. All three are defensible; only one of them is no extra work for you.

Does it handle foreign tax credit relief? If tax was deducted at source abroad, you claim relief against your UK liability. Foreign property being "ready" in the directory does not guarantee the product calculates this for you.

Does it cover UK property in the same place? Most overseas landlords also have UK property. Filing those in two products is legal and unpleasant. Of the 159 listed products, 74 cover sole trader, UK property and foreign property together.

Does it do calendar quarters? If you want your update periods to run 1 April to 31 March instead of 6 April to 5 April, check that too. Of the 77 foreign-property products, 71 support calendar update periods. Our standard vs calendar quarters guide explains which to pick.

Where TapTax sits, honestly

TapTax covers all three income sources, sole trader, UK property and foreign property, including the per-property detail endpoints, on its Pro plan at £9.99 a month, the plan that carries property income. The free and £4.99 plans cover sole trader income only. It runs on iOS and Android with CSV bank-statement import, AI categorisation and receipt scanning, which is the combination the table above shows to be rare among foreign-property-capable products.

Two honest caveats, both of which should influence your decision this month:

  • TapTax is HMRC-recognised, with its directory listing pending. It is not on the find-software directory as of the 17 October 2026 scrape, so it is not one of the 77 products counted on this page. Every product named above is listed today. If a published HMRC listing is a precondition for you, choose from the tables here.
  • On the 16 return items TapTax is mid-pack: interest, dividends, charitable giving, the High Income Child Benefit Charge and Class 2 and 4 National Insurance are handled, while pensions income, Construction Industry Scheme, capital gains and partnership income are not there yet. If your return leans on those, one of the 15- and 16-item products above will serve you better today.

You can filter the whole dataset yourself on the MTD software directory, and the full analysis of every tool explains how these gaps formed. For the broader landlord picture, including thresholds and Section 24, start with our MTD for landlords guide.

Choosing in one minute

  • Free, foreign property, complete return, browser is fine. My Tax Digital or TaxHeaven.
  • Foreign property plus a mobile app, and budget is not the issue. untied at £129.99 a year or Kletta at £29 a month for the property plan (August 2026).
  • You live in a spreadsheet already. Absolute Excel Income Tax Filer at roughly £8 per taxpayer a year, or VitalTax at £30 a year plus VAT for one taxpayer.
  • Cheapest complete option. MTD 4 Income Tax at £20 a year, graded on all 16 items, with no native app.
  • One property overseas, one in the UK, minimal budget. RentalBux Free, noting the one-property cap and the March 2028 date.
  • You want free plus a real app plus all three sources. The listed field is very thin. Shortlist TapTax if you are comfortable that its directory listing is still pending.

People also ask

Do I have to report foreign rental income to HMRC if I already pay tax abroad?

Yes, if you are UK resident. UK residents are taxed on worldwide income, so overseas rental profits go on the SA106 foreign pages regardless of tax already paid in the country where the property sits. You then claim foreign tax credit relief for the tax paid abroad, usually capped at the UK tax due on that same income. Double taxation agreements set the detail. Non-residents with UK property face the mirror image of this and should look at the Non-resident Landlord Scheme instead.

Are overseas holiday lets treated differently under MTD?

The Furnished Holiday Lettings regime was abolished from April 2025, which removed the separate treatment that EEA holiday lets previously enjoyed. Overseas holiday lets now sit within ordinary foreign property income for MTD purposes, so they are reported through the foreign property source alongside long lets. The practical effect is that software supporting foreign property covers holiday lets too, and the old question of whether a product handled FHL separately has largely gone away.

Can I use two MTD products, one for UK property and one for foreign?

Yes. HMRC's guidance accepts that some taxpayers will need more than one piece of software, and the MTD APIs are designed so different products can submit different income sources for the same taxpayer. It is a legitimate fallback if your preferred product covers everything except the foreign pages. The costs are practical rather than legal: two subscriptions, two sets of records, two authorisations to maintain, and the reconciliation work at final declaration. Our guide on whether you need more than one MTD product weighs it up properly.

How is foreign rental income converted into sterling for quarterly updates?

Income and expenses must be reported to HMRC in sterling. HMRC accepts a reasonable and consistent basis, commonly the spot rate on the date of each transaction or an average rate for the period, using HMRC's published exchange rates. What matters most is consistency across the year and keeping the rate you used as part of your digital records. Software varies widely here: some convert automatically from an open-banking feed, others expect you to enter sterling figures yourself, so confirm the approach before your first quarterly update.

Other comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Which MTD software supports foreign property income?

As of the 17 October 2026 scrape of HMRC's find-software directory, 77 of the 159 listed products are graded ready for foreign property income and 82 are graded not included. Thirteen combine foreign property with all 16 tax-return items: MTD 4 Income Tax, FileThat!, AATAX, Quarterwise, 123 e-Filing, AbraTax, EasyTaxer.com, 1 1 MTD Bridge, @1TaxFiler, Avona, TaxBridge UK and the two MTD Companion products. Close behind at 15 of 16 are My Tax Digital, TaxHeaven, TaxUpdates, Abridge, RentalBux, untied, Kletta, Forbes MTD and Clear Books. Several of the best-known complete products, including QuickBooks, FreeAgent and QuickFile, are graded not included for foreign property.

Do I need separate software for overseas rental income under MTD?

You need software that handles foreign property as a distinct income source, because HMRC treats it separately from UK property in the MTD APIs. It is not simply a UK property entry with a different address. If your current product does not support it, your options are to switch to one of the 77 that do, or to run a second product alongside for the foreign element and reconcile at the final declaration. HMRC's own guidance accepts that some people will need more than one product, though a single product covering everything is far simpler.

Is foreign property income included in the £50,000 MTD threshold?

Yes. The MTD for Income Tax qualifying income test is on gross income from self-employment and property combined, and property means UK and overseas property together. A landlord with £30,000 of UK rent and £25,000 of overseas rent has £55,000 of qualifying income and is in scope from April 2026, even though neither source alone crosses the threshold. Gross means before expenses and before any foreign tax deducted at source.

Why do free MTD tiers usually exclude foreign property?

Because foreign property carries extra work that free tiers are not designed to absorb: separate HMRC endpoints, foreign tax credit relief, currency conversion and the SA106 pages. As of the 17 October 2026 scrape, 17 of the 37 products listing a free version are graded ready for foreign property, and 6 of those 17 cannot complete a single one of the 16 return items. The overlap of free, foreign property and a complete return is a genuinely small group.

Does TapTax handle foreign property?

Yes. TapTax supports sole trader, UK property and foreign property income, including the per-property detail endpoints, on its £9.99 a month Pro plan, which is the plan that carries property income. To be precise about status: TapTax is HMRC-recognised, with its directory listing pending, and it does not appear on the find-software directory as of the 17 October 2026 scrape, so it is not one of the 77 counted here. Listings change, and this is a dated fact rather than a permanent one.

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