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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 5 Aug 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 HMRC-confirmed 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 122 listed products, scraped on 5 August 2026, to show which software covers overseas rental income and which does not.

Key takeaways
  • As of the 5 August 2026 scrape, 60 of the 122 listed products are graded ready for foreign property income and 62 are graded not included.
  • HMRC grades income sources pass or fail, so the directory tells you who supports foreign property today but nothing about who is building it.
  • Several of the most complete products in the market, including QuickBooks, Clear Books and FreeAgent, do not cover foreign property.
  • Free tiers rarely include it: only 12 of the 31 free-version products cover foreign property, and several of those cannot complete a single return item.
  • Foreign rental income counts towards the £50,000 MTD threshold, so overseas landlords are often mandated earlier than they expect.

How many MTD products handle foreign property?

60of 122 (49%)handle foreign property incomeHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 5 August 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 5 August 2026.

Compare that with sole trader income, graded ready in 109 of 122 (89%) products, and UK property, graded ready in 107 of 122 (88%). 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 62 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.

19of 122 (16%)cover foreign property and have 9 or more of the 16 return items readyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 5 August 2026
Products graded ready for foreign property with nine or more of HMRC's 16 tax-return items, as graded on 5 August 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
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
AbraTax MTD for Income TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
Abridge (MTD for Excel/Sheets)Ready 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
Capium Limited - MTD for ITNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed14/16
SimplifyMTDReady nowNot includedReady nowReady nowNot listed14/16
123 e-Filing MTD for Income TaxNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed10/16
Absolute Excel Income Tax FilerNot includedReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed10/16
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 5 August 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 19 of 122 (16%) products clear both bars, and if you also want a mobile app it drops to roughly half of those.

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 of the 16 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 5 August 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
QuickBooks (Intuit)Not includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Clear BooksNot includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Clear Books FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
FreeAgentReady nowReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
QuickFile Accounting SoftwareNot includedReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS14/16
ZohoReady nowReady nowReady nowNot includedAndroid; Apple iOS9/16
Highly complete products graded not included for foreign property, as graded on 5 August 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, Clear Books or FreeAgent 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 5 August 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, Nexus by Landlord Studio and Coconut are all graded not included for foreign property. Hammock is graded ready for foreign property but at zero of the 16 return items, so it handles 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.

12of 122 (10%)list a free version that covers foreign propertyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 5 August 2026

The picture inside that group is uneven.

Products listing a free version and graded ready for foreign property, as graded on 5 August 2026.
ProductFreeSole traderUK propertyForeign propertyMobile appReturn items
DIY TaxReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS3/16
My Tax Digital (Free)Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
Abridge (MTD for Excel/Sheets)Ready nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
Self Assessment DirectReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS9/16
Adminsoft AccountsReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
TaxUpdatesReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
TaxHeavenReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed15/16
TaxBridge UK MTD by Amelia GBReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
Aligned.tax MTD for SpreadsheetsReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
RentalBux FreeReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowAndroid; Apple iOS15/16
SimplifyMTDReady nowNot includedReady nowReady nowNot listed14/16
AcxiteReady nowReady nowReady nowReady nowNot listed0/16
Products listing a free version and graded ready for foreign property, as graded on 5 August 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: My Tax Digital, TaxHeaven, TaxUpdates, Abridge, RentalBux Free and SimplifyMTD all combine £0 with foreign property and most of the return. 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. Sixty products can do it, sixty-two cannot, and several of the most complete products in the market are in that second group.
TapTax, MTD directory review, 5 August 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 122 listed products, 56 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 60 foreign-property products, 56 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, and it does so on the free tier as well as the £4.99 and £9.99 a month tiers. It runs on iOS and Android with open-banking 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 MTD-compatible and going through HMRC's recognition process. It is not on the find-software directory as of the 5 August 2026 scrape, so it is not one of the 60 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-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 all 122 tools 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 recognition is in progress rather than complete.

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