The problem
Landlords with qualifying income over $66,500£50,000€59,500A$96,000C$94,000 in 2024 to 2025 have had to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax since April 2026, with a quarterly update due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Doing it from bank statements and a spreadsheet is slow: 40 transactions a month at 2 minutes each is 80 minutes, plus about 2 hours a quarter preparing each update, about 2 hours a month in all.
What the AI does
Hammock is landlord accounting software that connects to your bank accounts. Its site says it automatically reconciles rent payments and property expenses, alerts you when rent is late or missing, keeps receipts in one place and allocates income and costs between joint owners. Every plan lists MTD quarterly updates filing and the MTD final declaration, and Hammock says it is recognized by HMRC as MTD-compatible. You check the matched transactions each week, and the deadlines live first in your own diary, not in the app. Hammock doesn't decide what is an allowable expense; you or your accountant do.
A worked example
A landlord in Leicester owns 5 buy-to-let flats bringing in about $82,460£62,000€73,780A$119,040C$116,560 of rent a year, so they have been in Making Tax Digital since April 2026. They pay for Hammock's Standard plan annually and keep the four quarterly deadlines and the 31 January final declaration in their own diary, checked on the first of each month.
Before
About 2 hours a month: 40 transactions sorted by hand at 2 minutes each (80 minutes), plus 2 hours a quarter preparing each update (40 minutes a month)
After
About 35 minutes a month: 30 seconds checking each of 40 matched transactions (20 minutes), plus 45 minutes a quarter reviewing each update (15 minutes a month)
What it's worth
About $56£42€50A$81C$79 a month saved, against a $19£14€17A$27C$26 to $24£18€21A$35C$34 cost. That is about 1.4 hours a month (120 minutes down to 35), valued at $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour. Standard covers 4 to 10 properties at $20£15€18A$29C$28 a month plus VAT ($24£18€21A$35C$34), or $192£144€171A$276C$271 a year plus VAT, about $19£14€17A$27C$26 a month. With 1 to 3 properties, Basic is $11£8€10A$15C$15 a month plus VAT.
How to set it up
- Check on GOV.UK whether you must use Making Tax Digital now (qualifying income over $66,500£50,000€59,500A$96,000C$94,000 in 2024 to 2025) or from April 2027 (over $39,900£30,000€35,700A$57,600C$56,400 in 2025 to 2026), and sign up.
- Write the quarterly deadlines (7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May) and the 31 January final declaration in your main diary with a reminder two weeks before each, and check the diary on the first of every month. That diary is the primary record; the app is not.
- Sign up for Hammock, connect the bank accounts your rent goes into and your costs come out of, and set up each property, tenancy and ownership share.
- Each week, check the matched transactions, photograph receipts as you get them, and fix anything matched to the wrong property.
- Before each deadline, review the quarter's figures, with your accountant if you have one, then submit the update from Hammock and keep HMRC's confirmation.
What goes wrong
- Bank feeds can stop updating and automations can fail silently. The monthly diary check, and a look at the date of the latest transaction, are the control, not the software.
- Matching isn't tax advice. Whether a cost is a repair or an improvement is your call or your accountant's, and a wrong label carries into the update.
- Hammock is priced by properties: going from 3 to 4 properties moves you from Basic at $11£8€10A$15C$15 to Standard at $20£15€18A$29C$28 a month, plus VAT.
- Jointly owned property is reported by each owner for their share. Set the ownership percentages before the first update, not after.