Joint property ownership is one of the most common scenarios in UK property — and one of the most commonly mishandled from a tax perspective. When two people own a property together, HMRC requires each person to report their own share of income and expenses separately. RentalBux automates all of this so neither co-owner has to calculate their share manually.
What Does Joint Ownership Mean?
It simply means more than one person owns the property together. When rent comes in or you pay for repairs, the money needs to be divided up based on who owns what percentage.
For example, if you own 60% and your sister owns 40%, you get 60% of the rent and pay 60% of the bills. This ensures each co-owner can accurately report their share of rental profits to HMRC for tax purposes, meeting Making Tax Digital requirements.
Who Needs This?
This feature helps if you:
Own a rental house with your spouse or partner
Bought a property together with family members
Went in on an investment property with friends
Inherited a property with your brothers or sisters
Share ownership with business partners
The Problem:
Without this, you’d have to manually figure out everyone’s share every month using spreadsheets or calculators. It’s time-consuming, confusing, and easy to make mistakes. Plus, everyone needs to report their own portion to the tax office.
What the Portfolio section shows you
Your Portfolio is an overview of all your rental properties — their performance, their ownership structure, and how returns are distributed between co-owners. At a glance, you can see:
Total rental income across all properties
Your personal share of that income (based on ownership percentages)
Expenses per property and your share of each
Net profit or loss per property for the current period
Any co-owners linked to each property and their respective shares
How joint ownership works in RentalBux
When you add a property with a co-owner, RentalBux records the full income and expenses at the property level — you don't need to calculate each person's share yourself. The platform then applies the ownership percentages to produce individual figures for each owner's MTD submission.
How to Set This Up in RentalBux
Step 1: Create Your Owner Group
First, tell us who owns the property together:
Go to the My Property section
Click Your Portfolio
Click Add Portfolio
Fill in these simple details:
Portfolio Name: Give it an easy name like Me & John’s Property or Smith Family House
How Many Owners: 2 people? 3 people? Tell us how many
Everyone’s Share: Who owns what? Like 50% each, or maybe 60% you and 40% them. Whatever the actual ownership is
✓ Quick Tip: Use simple names you’ll remember. This is just for your reference. |
Step 2: Add Everyone’s Details
For each person who owns part of the property, add:
Their name
Their email address
Important Choice:
Does this person need to file their own MTD submission using RentalBux?
Say YES if: They want to log in, see their numbers, and send their own MTD information. We’ll send them an email to create a password
Say NO if: They just need to be listed but don’t want their own login
Click Save when you’re done.
Step 3: Connect Your Property
Now tell the system which property belongs to this owner group.
If You’re Adding a New Property:
Click Add a New Property from the My Property section
Fill in the basics (property name, type, address, etc.)
When you get to the Ownership tab
Click Select Ownership
Choose the portfolio you just made
Click Save
If the Property is Already in RentalBux:
Find the property in your list
Click the edit button
Go to the Ownership tab
Click on Select Ownership
Pick your Portfolio
Click Save
✓ You’re All Set! Everything will now be split automatically.
Quick Tip: If your co-owner also needs to file MTD returns, they'll be able to submit MTD for the shared property completely free. Each person files separately based on their share.
Common joint ownership scenarios
Scenario | How to set it up in RentalBux |
|---|---|
Married couple, 50/50 ownership | Add spouse as co-owner with 50% each. Both connect their own HMRC accounts and file separately. |
Unequal split (e.g. 70/30 following a legal agreement) | Enter the exact percentages — RentalBux splits all income and expenses accordingly. |
Parent and child, child has 10% | Add the child as co-owner with 10%. RentalBux generates their small share for their own MTD submission. |
Three equal co-investors | Add all three as owners with 33.33% each. Each person has their own RentalBux account and HMRC connection. |
Lets Learn with example
Let’s Say:
You and your friend each own 50% of a house you rent out
Tenants pay £1,000 in rent each month
Your bills (repairs, insurance, etc.) are £200 per month
What Happens | The Money |
|---|---|
Total rent collected | £1,000 |
Total bills paid | £200 |
Your share of rent (50%) | £500 |
Your share of bills (50%) | £100 |
What you make this month | £400 |
Your friend’s numbers are exactly the same: £500 rent minus £100 bills = £400 profit.
You both can log in, see your £400, and get your MTD submissions ready. No calculators needed!
Benefits of Automated Joint Ownership
Once configured, RentalBux automatically:
Splits rental income proportionally between all co-owners based on their ownership percentage
Allocates expenses to each owner’s account
Calculates net profit for each co-owner automatically
Generates individual MTD reports for each owner to submit to HMRC
Provides real-time dashboards showing each owner’s share of property performance
Maintains audit trails for all transactions and calculations
Time Savings: Eliminate manual spreadsheet calculations and reduce accounting time by up to 90%.
FAQ Section
Why This Matters for Shared Property Owners
When you own property with others, you need to:
Report your share to the tax office: Everyone files their own tax return showing only their portion
Keep records: The tax office might want to see your calculations later
Send updates regularly: Usually every three months (quarterly)
Make sure the math is right: Mistakes can cause problems with taxes
Good News: RentalBux keeps all the records, does all the calculations, and creates the reports. You just need to look at the numbers and submit them.
Ready to Get Started?
Setting this up is quick and easy:
Log into RentalBux (or create a free account if you don’t have one)
Create your Portfolio group- Takes about 1 minute
Add everyone’s information and choose who needs a login
Connect your property to that group
Done! From now on, all the splitting happens between owners automatically
Need Help?
We are here if you need us:
Click the Help button in the app
Email our support team
Watch our step-by-step video
Browse our help articles
Save Hours Every Month
Once you set this up, you will never have to manually calculate who gets what again. No more spreadsheets, no more arguments, no more confusion at tax time. Everyone knows exactly where they are.