MTD accountants in Chorley

Landlords and MTD in the borough

More of Chorley now rents from a private landlord

Ten years ago, renting privately was unusual here. At the 2011 Census, 10.2% of households in the borough rented from a private landlord. By 2021 that had risen to 13.9%, while the share who own their home fell from 75.2% to 72.1%. Over the same ten years the population grew by almost a tenth, to around 117,700, much of it in the new streets around Buckshaw Village and Euxton (ONS, Census area changes).

Private renting is still less common than across the North West, where it was 19.2% in 2021. That matters for anyone choosing an accountant: a lot of the people letting homes in this part of Lancashire have one or two properties rather than a portfolio, and they often own them with someone else. Making Tax Digital treats those arrangements in a particular way, and it is worth understanding before you ask a firm to quote.

Own it with someone else? Only your share counts

From 6 April 2027 you must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if your qualifying income was over £30,000 on your 2025 to 2026 tax return. Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property, before expenses. HMRC’s own guidance is clear on joint ownership: “Your share of the property income will count towards your qualifying income” (GOV.UK).

So a semi in Coppull let for £1,100 a month brings in £13,200 a year. If two brothers own it equally, each has £6,600 of qualifying income from it. Neither comes anywhere near the threshold on that property alone. If one of them also runs a joinery business turning over £26,000, his total becomes £32,600 and he is in from April 2027; his brother, with a salaried job, is not, because wages taxed through PAYE do not count.

There is one wrinkle. Some joint owners only ever see their share after the letting agent or a co-owner has taken costs off. HMRC says that if you only receive notice of your share after expenses, it will use that net figure. A good accountant will ask how the money reaches you before working out which side of the line you fall.

Married couples and the 50:50 starting point

Spouses and civil partners who own a property together are usually taxed as if they split the income equally, whatever the deeds say. If you actually own it in unequal shares, you can send HMRC Form 17 so the income is taxed according to the real shares. That choice moves money from one person’s qualifying income to the other’s, and it can decide whether one, both or neither of you has to start quarterly updates.

This is where an hour with an accountant earns its fee. Before agreeing a price, ask the firm to look at how the property is held, whether a Form 17 is in place, and what each of you earns from other sources. The answer may be that only one of you needs MTD software at all.

Rent plus a business: how the two add up

The threshold is tested on everything you receive from self-employment and property together, so it is easy to cross without either source looking large. Three examples, all on the 2025 to 2026 return:

If you are close to the line, the £20,000 threshold arrives a year later, from 6 April 2028. Most firms would rather start working with you before the deadline than after it.

Where the firms are

The borough’s accountants are spread out. Five of the firms above work from Euxton Lane, at the Business & Technology Centre, East Terrace Business Park and Strawberry Fields Digital Hub, the council’s digital hub opposite the hospital, where Compare Advantage, which runs this directory, also has its office. In the town centre, firms sit on Bolton Street, St Thomas’s Road, Market Street, Pall Mall, Southport Road and Eaves Lane. The rest are in the villages: Adlington (PR7 4), Coppull (PR7 5), Buckshaw Village (PR7 7), Whittle-le-Woods (PR6 7 and PR6 8), Charnock Richard and Abbey Village.

Addresses can mislead. Parts of Clayton-le-Woods carry Leyland PR25 postcodes, Croston uses PR26, Mawdesley is L40 with an Ormskirk post town, and Rivington is BL6 under Bolton, yet all of them sit inside the borough. If your post says Leyland, the firms here are still your local ones.

Help that costs nothing

Two free routes are worth knowing about before you pay anyone. Boost, Lancashire’s business growth hub, runs a free helpdesk on 0800 488 0057 and a directory of support. Chorley Council publishes business advice covering starting up, premises and the grants it runs at chorley.gov.uk. Neither will fill in your quarterly updates, but both can save you money elsewhere. HMRC also runs free online webinars on Making Tax Digital through the GOV.UK Business Academy.

Your first year, if you start in April 2027

Each update is a summary of income and expenses for the quarter, sent from software. You do not pay tax with it. The tax itself is still settled through the final declaration, which replaces the old Self Assessment return.

Five questions to ask before you sign up

1. Do you send quarterly updates for landlords, or only for businesses? Some firms are set up for one and not the other.
2. How do you handle jointly owned property? Ask whether they will work out each owner’s share and look at Form 17.
3. Which software will I need, and who pays for it? Some include a licence in the fee; others expect you to buy your own.
4. What do you need from me each quarter, and by when? A clear cut-off date means fewer reminders and a lower bill.
5. Is the price fixed for the year? Ask what happens if you add a property or start a business mid-year.

Put the same five questions to each firm that quotes and the differences show quickly. That is the point of comparing: the cheapest quote is not always the best fit, and the best fit is rarely the first firm you ring.