Which SA105 box do letting agent fees go in?

Letting agent fees and commission go in SA105 box 27, which covers legal, management and professional fees. If the agent deducts commission before paying you, record the gross rent in box 20 and the commission separately in box 27, rather than recording only the net amount received.

Do I declare the gross rent or the amount the agent paid me?

Declare the gross rent in SA105 box 20, before the agent deducted anything. The agent commission, repairs and any other costs the agent paid on your behalf are then claimed separately as expenses. Declaring only the net amount received understates both income and expenses.

Which SA105 box does buy-to-let mortgage interest go in?

Residential mortgage interest goes in SA105 box 44, not box 26. Under the Section 24 finance cost restriction it is a basic rate 20 percent tax reducer, not a deduction from profit, so it must not be included in your expense totals. Box 26 is for non-residential property only.

Landlord Pack / Letting agent statement to CSV

SA105 and Making Tax Digital

Convert a letting agent statement to a CSV mapped to the SA105 boxes

A letting agent statement is the worst possible shape for a tax return. Gross rent, commission, repairs and a net payout are all tangled into one document, and Self Assessment wants them split across six different boxes. This page explains which box each line belongs in, and gives you a tool that does the splitting in about ten seconds.

Convert a statement now

Which SA105 box does each line of a letting agent statement go in?

Every line on a UK letting agent statement maps to one of seven SA105 boxes. Rent received goes in box 20. Agent commission and management fees go in box 27. Repairs the agent arranged go in box 25. Landlord insurance and ground rent go in box 24. The table below covers the descriptions that appear on real statements.

SA105 UK property boxes and the statement lines that belong in each
SA105 box	What it covers	Typical statement wording
Box 20	Rent and other income received, gross	Rent received, rent due, monthly rental
Box 22	Other property income	Retained deposit, dilapidations, late fees
Box 24	Rates, insurance and ground rents	Landlord insurance, ground rent, service charge, council tax while vacant
Box 25	Property repairs and maintenance	Boiler repair, plumber, gas safety, cleaning between tenancies
Box 26	Loan interest, non-residential property only	Commercial mortgage interest
Box 27	Legal, management and professional fees	Management commission, letting fee, tenancy renewal, inventory, accountancy
Box 28	Costs of services provided	Gardening, communal cleaning, utilities you pay
Box 29	Other allowable property expenses	Advertising, phone, mileage, subscriptions
Box 44	Residential finance costs, a 20% tax reducer	Buy-to-let mortgage interest, product fees

Why mortgage interest is box 44 and not an expense

Residential mortgage interest is the single most misfiled figure on the SA105. Since the Section 24 restriction was fully phased in, residential finance costs are no longer deducted from rental profit. Instead the figure goes in box 44 and HMRC converts it into a basic rate tax reducer worth 20 percent. Box 26 is for non-residential property only and remains a full deduction.

The most common filing error is double counting. Entering the same mortgage interest in both box 26 and box 44 claims the relief twice. Residential interest belongs in box 44 alone. The relief is then capped at 20 percent of the lowest of three figures: your finance costs, your property profits, and your income above the personal allowance.

Should I declare gross rent or the amount the agent actually paid me?

Declare the gross rent in box 20, before the agent took anything. A statement showing 1,000 pounds rent, 100 pounds commission and an 900 pound payout is 1,000 pounds of income in box 20 and 100 pounds of expense in box 27, not 900 pounds of income. Declaring only the net payout understates income and throws away a deductible expense, and it will not reconcile against the agent's own records.

Is a new boiler a repair or a capital improvement?

Replacing a broken boiler with a similar modern equivalent is a repair and belongs in box 25. Installing central heating in a property that never had it, or an upgrade well beyond like for like, is capital expenditure. Capital costs cannot be set against rental income and are instead carried to any future capital gains calculation. If a statement line is ambiguous, treat it as capital and check it, because an over-claimed repair is the kind of thing an enquiry finds.

Does a CSV count as a Making Tax Digital record?

Yes for record keeping, no for submission. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax requires two separate things: keeping digital records of income and expenses, and submitting quarterly updates through HMRC-recognised software. A CSV of categorised transactions is a legitimate digital record. It does not file anything. You still import it into MTD or bridging software to make the actual quarterly submission.

When does Making Tax Digital apply to me?

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026 to landlords and sole traders whose qualifying income exceeded 50,000 pounds on the 2024 to 2025 Self Assessment return. The threshold falls to 30,000 pounds from April 2027 and to 20,000 pounds from April 2028. Qualifying income is gross income before expenses, so a landlord with a modest profit can still be in scope.

There are no late submission penalty points for quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year. From April 2027 a missed quarter earns a penalty point and four points trigger a 200 pound penalty. Quarterly updates are cumulative year to date, so a missed quarter is absorbed by the next one. The Self Assessment deadline is unchanged at 31 January.

How the converter works

Drop in a letting agent statement or rental bank statement as a text-based PDF.
The PDF is opened and read inside your own browser. The document itself is never uploaded.
Every transaction is categorised against the SA105 boxes above, and the arithmetic totals are computed server side rather than being produced by a language model.
Low confidence rows are highlighted so you can check anything ambiguous.
The on-screen summary is free. The CSV download is 19 pounds per statement.

Try it with your own statement

Scanned or photographed statements are not supported yet. Email one to jordan@glideops.co.uk and it will be converted by hand, free.

Last verified 15 September 2026 against the HMRC UK property notes (SA105) and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax guidance. This page explains bookkeeping categories and is not tax advice. Box treatment can depend on circumstances, so check anything material against HMRC guidance or your accountant.