The Digital Disclosure Service
Property in a company, trust, or commercial premises? This is your route.
If you’ve received rental income (or other income) that you never told HMRC about, you can put that right — and this page explains how.
Telling HMRC about income you didn’t declare before is called making a “disclosure”. There isn’t just one way to do it: HMRC has a few different routes, and the right one for you depends on your circumstances.
The Digital Disclosure Service (DDS) is HMRC’s online system for making a voluntary disclosure — telling them about tax you didn’t declare and putting it right. It’s the general route — used for all sorts of income, not just property.
Here’s the key thing for landlords. If you’ve simply not declared rent from residential property you own as an individual, the general service isn’t the one for you. You use a dedicated track instead — the Let Property Campaign (a separate page). It’s the right route for most landlords, including if you live abroad.
You use the general Digital Disclosure Service — this page — when the Let Property Campaign doesn’t fit. For example: property held in a company or a trust, or commercial property like a shop or unit rather than a home. Not sure which is yours? A couple of plain questions will point you to the right one. England & Wales.
Already had a letter from HMRC? Coming forward is still worth it, but a letter changes the picture a little — it’s worth understanding exactly what yours means first. See what your letter means →
What this route covers — and what it doesn’t
First, in plain terms: a “disclosure” just means telling HMRC about income you didn’t declare before, and paying the tax owed on it. The Digital Disclosure Service (DDS) is HMRC’s general online way to do exactly that. Here’s the simple rule to hold onto. If you’re an ordinary landlord letting out residential property in your own name, your route is the Let Property Campaign — that’s a different page. It covers you even if you live abroad.
This page — the general DDS route — is for the situations the campaign doesn’t cover: property held through a company or trust, or commercial property (a shop or unit rather than a home).
You’re likely to need the DDS if your situation is one the campaign doesn’t cover — for example:
- The property is held through a company — so it’s a company matter, not an individual’s residential letting.
- The property is held in a trust — trusts are taxed under their own rules and are genuinely specialist territory, so take advice early.
- It’s commercial property — a shop, office or unit — rather than someone’s home.
Live abroad? If you’re a landlord who lives abroad but rents out a residential home in the UK, you don’t use this general route — the Let Property Campaign covers you too.
One more thing, if anything is overseas. If your undeclared tax involves foreign property, foreign income, or money held abroad, there’s a separate HMRC facility for that — the Worldwide Disclosure Facility. It works in a similar way, but it’s the right home for offshore matters. If that might be you, it’s worth checking before you start.
The general route vs the Let Property Campaign
Both work in a similar way — you notify HMRC, you’re given time to prepare, then you disclose and pay. The difference is who each is for:
- Who each is for. The Let Property Campaign is for individuals disclosing undeclared rent from residential property — UK or overseas, and including landlords who live abroad. The general Digital Disclosure Service is for the situations it doesn’t cover: property held in a company or trust, or commercial property.
- The terms. The campaign has its own published terms tailored to landlords. The DDS is broader and less tailored, so how it works out depends more on your own circumstances — which is a good reason to have it checked rather than guessed.
- The records overlap — but the tax is worked out differently. Whatever the route, you’ll be gathering the rent received, the costs paid and the mortgage interest, property by property and year by year. But how the tax is then calculated depends on who owns the property. An individual’s income tax, a company’s corporation tax, and a trust’s own rules are three quite different things. That’s why these figures need a professional’s eye.
What to prepare
Whichever route applies, you’ll need the same core information about your lettings — and the same tools help you gather it. For each property, for each year, you’re pulling together:
- Rent received — from bank or letting-agent statements.
- Allowable costs — repairs, agent fees, insurance and other allowable expenses.
- Mortgage interest — from your lender’s statements. Good news if you own through a company: the “Section 24” restriction that hits individual landlords does not apply to companies. A company still deducts its mortgage interest in full, as a normal business expense. Because the treatment differs by set-up, your figures should be checked by a professional rather than assumed.
The Disclosure Workbench helps you gather these records, even years back, and the Liability Estimator gives an indicative range to prepare with — a helpful guide, not a final figure.
Not sure which route is yours?
That’s completely normal — and it’s the one thing worth getting right before you start. A few plain questions will point you to the route that fits, so you don’t prepare the wrong kind of disclosure.
How to come out of this in the best position
Whatever your set-up, a few things genuinely reduce what you pay — all legitimate, all about paying the right amount:
- Come forward before HMRC contacts you. An unprompted, voluntary disclosure attracts a lower penalty than one made after HMRC gets in touch. It also keeps things civil and calm. This saving is entirely in your hands.
- Claim every legitimate deduction. For a company, that means all allowable business costs and capital allowances against the profit; for any set-up, you’re taxed on the real profit, not the headline income. Getting the deductions right often changes the figure materially.
- Quality of disclosure counts. A full, accurate, cooperative disclosure is penalised more lightly than a partial or grudging one. Being thorough literally pays.
- Company and director are separate. If it involves both a company and you personally, each makes its own disclosure — getting that split right keeps both clean and avoids paying on the wrong basis.
- Time to Pay is available. Can’t settle in one go? Arrange to spread it, before the 90-day deadline.
Doing it yourself — and where help genuinely earns its keep
The process is the same shape as any disclosure, and you can absolutely start it yourself:
- Establish the facts. What was undeclared, for which years, and on what basis (company, trust, commercial). This decides everything that follows.
- Gather the records. Company accounts, rental records, costs, and prior filings. Reconstruct what’s missing as best you can.
- Notify HMRC through the Digital Disclosure Service and get your Disclosure Reference Number (DRN) — this starts the 90-day clock.
- Work out the tax, interest and penalty, then submit and pay (or arrange Time to Pay) within 90 days.
The company landlord who got the basis right
Take a landlord we’ll call Marcus (made up, to show how it works). He’d bought two flats through a limited company and, busy with work, never got round to the company’s tax filings — a few years of undeclared rental profit had built up.
Rather than panic or guess, he gathered the company’s figures, made an unprompted notification through the Digital Disclosure Service, and had the profit worked out properly on the Corporation Tax basis — claiming the allowable costs and capital allowances the company was due, which he’d have missed on a rough guess.
The outcome: because he came forward unprompted and the figures were done correctly, the penalty was low and the tax reflected the company’s real profit — not an inflated guess. He settled on a Time to Pay plan, and the company’s record was clean going forward. Coming forward first, on the right basis, saved him both money and months of worry.
Illustrative only — figures and people are hypothetical, to show how the choices play out. Company and trust cases vary; your own position should be confirmed with a professional.
In plain English: a quick jargon-buster
New to all this? Here’s what the key terms mean, in the plainest words.
- A “disclosure”
- Telling HMRC about income you didn’t declare before, and paying the tax owed on it. That’s all it is — putting the record straight.
- “Non-resident”
- HMRC’s word for a landlord who lives abroad for tax purposes. If that’s you and you rent out a residential home in the UK, you can still use the Let Property Campaign — being abroad doesn’t move you to this general route.
- “Allowable costs”
- The expenses you’re allowed to subtract from your rent before the tax is worked out — things like repairs, agent fees and insurance.
- “Certificate of tax position”
- A form HMRC sometimes sends asking you to sign that your tax affairs are up to date. Never sign one you’re unsure about — signing something untrue can be a criminal matter.
- “Worldwide Disclosure Facility”
- HMRC’s route for putting right undeclared tax that involves anything offshore — foreign property, foreign income, or money held abroad. If your situation is overseas rather than UK-only, this is usually the right route.
- “Corporation Tax”
- The tax a company pays on its profits — the company equivalent of the income tax an individual pays. If you own property through a company, its rental profit is taxed this way, not as your personal income.
- “CT600”
- A company’s tax return — the form a company files each year to report its profits and work out its Corporation Tax. (An individual’s equivalent is the Self Assessment tax return.)
- “Section 24”
- A rule that limits how much mortgage-interest relief individual landlords get (broadly a 20% credit rather than a full deduction, though the exact amount depends on their income). Importantly, it does not apply to companies — a company still deducts its mortgage interest in full.
You’ve got this
Whatever your set-up, undeclared tax can be put right — and coming forward is the strong, sensible move.
A company, a trust, commercial premises — it can feel more complicated, but there’s a clear route for you, and you don’t have to work it all out today. You just have to start.
You’re in the driving seat either way. You can gather your records, understand where you stand, and get everything ready yourself — the free tools here help you do that. For these routes a professional is more often worth involving (a company disclosure runs through Corporation Tax, and trusts are specialist), but that’s your call, not a requirement — and even then, the more you’ve prepared, the more control you keep and the less it costs.
And here’s the honest bit: doing nothing doesn’t make it go away. If HMRC finds the gap before you come forward, the penalties are higher and you have far less control. Coming forward first is almost always the cheaper, calmer path — which is exactly why it’s the strong move.
- You stay in control — you sign, you decide
- Coming forward beats being found
- One step at a time, at your pace
Not sure this is even your route? That’s the first thing to settle — a couple of plain questions will point you the right way.
Ready to put things right? Send us the details
Whatever your set-up, it can be put right. There’s no charge to make contact and no obligation.