CIS tax

CIS tax, explained.

Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors take money off subcontractors' pay and pass it to HMRC as an advance on their tax and National Insurance. How much depends on one thing: your verification status.

Deduction rates

0%, 20% or 30%.

When a contractor verifies you with HMRC, HMRC tells them which rate to deduct. Deductions are taken from the labour part of an invoice, not from materials or VAT.

RateWho it applies to
20%Subcontractors registered for CIS whom the contractor has verified with HMRC.
30%Subcontractors who aren't registered, or whom HMRC can't match when the contractor tries to verify them.
0%Subcontractors HMRC has granted gross payment status. Nothing is deducted.

For subcontractors

Paying 30%? You probably don't need to be.

Most subcontractors paying 30% simply haven't registered, or their contractor couldn't match their details. Register, share your details with your contractor, and the deduction drops to 20%. Anything overpaid comes back through your tax return.

For contractors

What the scheme asks of you.

CIS Manager handles each of these. See how.

Verify

Check each new subcontractor with HMRC before you pay them, to find out which rate to deduct.

Deduct and statement

Take the right deduction from each payment and give every subcontractor a monthly statement of it.

File monthly

Send HMRC a CIS300 return for each tax month (the 6th to the 5th) by the 19th. Late returns attract penalties.

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