Non-resident landlord tax: the letting agent's quarterly return due 30 October 2026, worked through

A letting agent who collects rent for a landlord living abroad must get form NRLQ, and the tax it shows, to HMRC by 30 October 2026 for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2026. HMRC's guidance gives that date itself: the form "must arrive by 30 October". The next one is due by 30 January 2027.

Who has to do this

The Non-resident Landlords Scheme taxes UK rent paid to a landlord whose "usual place of abode" is outside the UK. For an individual, HMRC normally treats an absence of 6 months or more as meeting that test.

If you manage the property and receive the rent, or control where it goes, you are a letting agent under the scheme. Tenants paying a landlord direct are only caught above £100 a week. Agents are caught whatever the rent.

There is one way out of deducting. HMRC writes to you to say the landlord is approved to receive rent with no tax taken off. The landlord's own word is not enough: HMRC says you "should only act on a notice from HMRC". Three points agents miss:

• Joint owners are separate landlords. If only one of a couple holds approval, you still deduct from the other's share.
• An approval notice does not move with the landlord. If you take over a property from another agent, you deduct until HMRC sends you your own notice.
• An agent whose landlords are all approved still registers and still sends the annual return.

Registration is on form NRL4, within 30 days of the date you first have to operate the scheme.

The sum for one property

Take a managed flat let at £1,250 a month, belonging to a landlord who moved to Spain and has no approval notice. In the quarter from 1 July to 30 September 2026 you received three rent payments and paid three bills for the landlord.

You pay HMRC £600 with form NRLQ. If you act for several overseas landlords, work out each one separately and add the results on one form.

Which rent and which expenses count

Rent counts in the quarter you receive it, whatever period it is for. Rent that fell due and was not paid stays out. Rent paid at your direction to someone else, the landlord included, goes in.

An expense counts only if you paid it in the quarter, or it was paid at your direction, and you can be "reasonably satisfied" it is an allowable expense of the rental business. HMRC's list includes letting agents' fees, repairs that are not improvements, gas servicing, insurance and ground rent. Where the landlord cannot recover VAT, the amount including VAT is what you deduct.

These stay out:

• bills the landlord paid personally, even if you have the invoices;
• costs that built up in the quarter and were not yet paid;
• capital spending, such as an extension or other improvement;
• mortgage interest on a residential property;
• another landlord's expenses.

If expenses come to more than the rent in a quarter, carry the excess back to earlier quarters for the same landlord, then forward.

The dates to July 2027

HMRC's rule is 30 days from the end of each quarter. It states the October date; the other payment dates below are that rule applied.

30 January 2027 is a Saturday and we found no weekend allowance in the guidance, so aim for Friday 29 January.

A quarter with no tax to pay needs no NRLQ, unless HMRC has sent a notice asking for one.

What the landlord does with it

The NRL6 certificate shows the tax you deducted in the year to 31 March. The landlord sets it against their own Self Assessment bill. The certificate for the year to 31 March 2026 was due by 5 July 2026, and landlords filing online for 2025 to 2026 need it before 31 January 2027.

The figure on the certificate will not match the landlord's final bill. You could not deduct the bills they paid themselves, and a higher-rate taxpayer owes more than 20%.

What it costs to get it wrong

• Interest runs on tax paid late, from the due date.
• HMRC says it may charge a penalty of up to £3,000 for an incorrect quarterly or annual return.
• Failing to give information when asked carries a penalty of up to £300, then up to £60 a day.
• If you did not deduct, HMRC says it will usually try to recover the tax from you.

Keep, for each overseas landlord, dated records of rent received and expenses paid, the invoices, and any letters about where the landlord lives. HMRC's two pages differ on how long: the older GOV.UK page says 4 years, and the notes updated in March 2026 say 6 tax years if possible.

A check before 30 October

1. List every landlord with an address outside the UK. HMRC says a PO box or "care of" address is not proof that a landlord lives here.
2. For each one, find the HMRC approval notice addressed to your agency. No notice means you deduct.
3. Add up rent received from 1 July to 30 September, then the expenses you paid in those dates.
4. Take 20% of the difference, per landlord.
5. Send NRLQ and pay, and tell each landlord what was deducted on their statement.

Joint landlords need the same care on the new landlord register; our guide to the PRS Database explains what it will ask for. The deposit and safety dates that sit beside these tax dates are on the 2026 compliance checklist.

This is general information, not tax advice.