Are Accountant Fees Tax Deductible for Landlords? (2026)
Last updated 27 June 2026 · 7 min read · By the LandlordTaxAi Editorial Team
The short answer
Yes — generally. Accountancy fees for preparing your rental accounts and the property pages of your tax return are normally allowable revenue expenses, deductible against rental income. The key exceptions: fees for capital transactions (buying/selling a property) and purely personal tax work aren’t claimed against rental income.
Paying an accountant to handle your property tax is itself a cost of running the rental business — so HMRC generally lets you deduct it. This guide covers what you can claim, the capital-versus-revenue line, and how software costs fit in under MTD.
See also allowable expenses for landlords and landlord legal fees and tax.
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Rental Profit Calculator
Add accountancy and software fees as allowable expenses to see the effect on taxable profit.
Result
- Taxable profit (rent − expenses)
- £11,200
- Income Tax at 20%
- £2,240
- Less mortgage interest credit (20%)
- − £1,000
- Tax due on this property
- £1,240
- Income after tax
- £9,960
Accountancy fees for the rental business are generally allowable. Capital/personal work is not. Estimate only.
Why accountant fees are allowable
The test is the usual one: the cost must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the rental business and be revenue, not capital. Preparing your rental accounts and completing the property pages of your return is plainly a running cost of letting, so it reduces taxable rental profit.
Ongoing compliance work — annual accounts, the property pages, routine advice on the lettings — is the clear-cut allowable category.
What you can’t claim
Accountancy related to capital events — fees for advising on buying or selling a property, or preparing a capital gains computation — isn’t deducted from rental income. Those relate to the capital side and are treated separately. Likewise, fees for personal tax matters unconnected to the lettings aren’t allowable against the rental business.
| Cost | Allowable against rental income? |
|---|---|
| Preparing rental accounts | Yes |
| Completing property pages / MTD updates | Yes |
| Routine lettings tax advice | Yes |
| Advice on buying/selling a property | No (capital) |
| CGT computation on a sale | No (capital side) |
| Purely personal tax planning | No |
If an invoice mixes routine compliance with capital advice, ask your accountant to split it so you only claim the allowable part against rental income.
Software counts too
The same principle covers bookkeeping and MTD software used for your rental business — those subscriptions are allowable expenses. With MTD for Income Tax making digital records compulsory above the threshold, these tooling costs are a normal, deductible part of compliant letting.
A deductible cost that saves you time
LandlordTaxAi reads your bank statements, categorises rent and expenses per property and keeps MTD-ready records — an allowable expense that does the bookkeeping for you.
See how it worksA worked example
A landlord pays £400 in accountancy fees in 2026/27.
| Accounts + property pages | £300 — allowable |
| Advice on selling a flat | £100 — capital, not against income |
| Claimed against rental income | £300 |
| Tax saved (higher-rate, 40%) | £120 |
Only the compliance portion reduces rental profit; the capital-advice element is kept separate.
Frequently asked questions
Are accountant fees tax deductible for landlords?
Generally yes — fees for rental accounts and the property pages of your return are allowable revenue expenses against rental income.
Which accountancy costs can’t I claim?
Capital work (buying/selling a property, CGT computations) and purely personal tax matters aren’t claimed against rental income.
Can I claim software subscriptions too?
Yes — bookkeeping and MTD software for the rental business are allowable, like accountancy fees.
Are fees for a CGT computation deductible against income?
No — they relate to the capital disposal, not rental income. Keep them separate.
Does MTD increase what I can claim?
It doesn’t change the principle, but software and extra support costs are allowable where wholly and exclusively for the rental business.
How do I record accountant fees?
Include them in allowable property expenses (often professional fees) for the year incurred, keep the invoice, and record digitally under MTD.
Written and reviewed by the LandlordTaxAi Editorial Team. Our guides are reviewed against current HMRC guidance and updated when the rules change. Operated by LandlordTaxAi, United Kingdom. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Last reviewed: 27 June 2026 · Researched against primary UK sources for the 2026/27 tax year: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/income-tax-when-you-rent-out-a-property-working-out-your-rental-income; https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/property-income-manual/pim2120. This article is informational only and does not constitute tax advice. Check the latest details on GOV.UK or with a qualified accountant.