CIS returns: deadlines, nil returns and penalties

What is a CIS return?

It is the monthly return a contractor sends HMRC, listing the payments made to subcontractors and the tax deducted from them. HMRC’s guide CIS340 puts it this way: Each month, contractors must send HMRC a complete return of all payments made to all subcontractors within the scheme in the preceding tax month.

That includes subcontractors you paid in full with nothing taken off. Each return carries:

• Details of the subcontractors
• Details of the payments made, and any deductions withheld
• A declaration that the employment status of all subcontractors has been considered
• A declaration that all subcontractors that need to be verified have been verified

Source: CIS340 section 1.6. GOV.UK adds: On your return, you must declare that the subcontractors listed are not employees.

Only the contractor files it. A subcontractor does not send a CIS return; their deductions count towards their own tax bill instead, and any overpayment can be claimed back.

The return is one of six monthly jobs for a contractor. How CIS works lists all six.

When is the CIS return deadline?

The 19th of every month, for the tax month that ended on the 5th. GOV.UK gives the example: If you’re making a return for the tax month of 6 May to 5 June, it must reach HMRC by 19 June.

Your next one: the return for 6 October to 5 November must reach HMRC by Thursday 19 November 2026.

A 19th that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is still the deadline. A return that arrives on the Monday is late. HMRC’s CIS manual says: If the return or nil return is received after this date it will be treated as being late.

Get a free email about a week before each deadline

When do I pay HMRC the CIS deductions?

By the 22nd if you pay electronically, or the 19th if you pay by post. When the 22nd is a weekend or bank holiday, the money has to arrive on the banking day before, which is earlier, not later.

Paying and filing are two separate deadlines, three days apart. Paying on time does not count as filing, and filing does not pay anything.

Smaller contractors can pay every three months instead. HMRC’s guide says: A contractor whose average monthly payments to HMRC (including, where applicable, PAYE and National Insurance contributions deductions from employees) are below £1,500, may choose to pay quarterly. The return is still monthly: Even where payments are made on a quarterly basis, contractors must still send returns monthly.

Source: CIS340 section 4.12: Deductions made between 6 May and 5 June must be paid by 19 June, or by 22 June where payment is made electronically (or the previous banking day where the 22 June is a weekend or bank holiday).

CIS deadlines for 2026, 2027 and 2028

HMRC does not publish a CIS calendar, so here is every month to the end of 2028, worked out from its rules. 21 of these 36 months have a date that is not what you would expect, and they are marked:

• Weekend: the return is due on a Saturday or Sunday and is still due that day.
• Earlier: the 22nd is not a banking day, so the money must arrive the banking day before.

Worked out from GOV.UK and CIS340 (sources at the foot of the page) and the government’s bank holiday list for England and Wales.

Do I need to file a CIS return if I paid no subcontractors?

Yes. Since 6 April 2026, a month with no payments needs a nil return, which is a return showing nothing paid, unless you have told HMRC your scheme is inactive. GOV.UK: You should file CIS returns every month. Deemed contractors are treated differently, and our deemed contractor guide explains how.

The penalty for a missing nil return is the same as for any other return. CIS340 says: If a contractor fails to file a return or notify HMRC of a period of inactivity by the 19th of the month we will issue a penalty.

How do I tell HMRC my CIS scheme is inactive?

Tick the inactivity request when you file a nil return in HMRC’s CIS online service. It suits a break between jobs, when you do not expect to pay anyone for a while.

• How long it lasts: An inactivity request lasts for up to 6 months. You can renew it at the end of the 6 month period.
• No online access: If you cannot use the CIS online service, you can tell HMRC by phone or post.
• When it ends: You must file a monthly return with payments if you start using subcontractors again. This will end your inactivity period.

Source: GOV.UK, tell HMRC about changes: You can make an inactivity request when you file a nil return (a return showing your payments were 0), using the CIS online service.

How do I do a CIS return?

Online, through HMRC’s CIS online service or CIS software, after the 5th and before the 19th:

1. List the month’s payments. Every payment to a subcontractor from the 6th to the 5th, including anyone you paid in full.
2. Check everyone is verified. A new subcontractor has to be verified with HMRC before you pay them, which tells you the rate to deduct.
3. Work out each deduction. The rate applies to labour, not to materials the subcontractor bought. How CIS deductions work
4. Sign in and enter the return. Use the free HMRC CIS online service or recognised commercial CIS software, not both for the same return.
5. Make the two declarations. That you have considered each person’s employment status, and that everyone who needed verifying was verified.
6. Submit by the 19th, then pay. Keep a copy of what you sent, and pay the deductions by the date in the table above.
7. Give each subcontractor a statement. Anyone you took tax from needs a payment and deduction statement, and our free statement template fills one in for you to print.

Source: CIS340 section 4.3: Be aware that using these 2 ways at the same time may cause returns to be overwritten.

Spotted a mistake after sending? How to correct a CIS return

What are the penalties for a late CIS return?

£100 the day after the deadline, and more the longer it stays unfiled. Each return is charged separately, so three quiet months with no nil return and no inactivity request cost 3 × £100 = £300, for returns that would each have said nothing was paid.

Source: GOV.UK, file your monthly returns.

The penalties add up rather than replace each other. CIS340 says that if the return is still outstanding after two months HMRC will charge a second fixed penalty of £200, and at six months a tax-geared penalty which is the greater of £300 or 5% of any deductions shown on the return.

One more penalty on the return has nothing to do with being late. GOV.UK: You could get a penalty of up to £3,000 if you give the wrong employment status for a subcontractor on your monthly return.

What one late CIS return costs, month by month

Every step is counted from the 19th the return was due. Each later penalty is only charged if the return is still not in 2, 6 or 12 months after that date, so sending it sooner stops the next one.

HMRC factsheet CC/FS18b: 2 months after the date it was due, we’ll charge a second fixed penalty of £200.

Here is one return due on 19 October 2026, showing £8,000 of CIS deductions, sent at four different times:

The 6 and 12 month penalties here are 5% of the deductions, because that is more than £300. The 12 month penalty can be far higher where HMRC finds a return was held back on purpose: We’ll charge a ‘higher’ penalty if we find out that you deliberately withheld information from us.

If you had never filed a CIS return and your first one is sent late along with earlier months, HMRC caps the £100 and £200 penalties on those returns at £3,000 in total. HMRC’s factsheet CC/FS18b has the detail.

If a CIS return is already late

• Send it now, even if it is a nil return. The next penalty only comes if it is still not in at the next step.
• Check the penalty notice against the tables above, one return at a time.
• Had a reasonable excuse? You can appeal within 30 days of the date on the penalty notice. How to appeal a CIS penalty
• Stop it happening again. Get a free email about a week before each deadline.

Is there a daily penalty for a late CIS return?

No. A late CIS return is charged at set points: 1 day, 2 months, 6 months and 12 months late, as in the tables above. The £10 a day you may see quoted is for a late Self Assessment tax return, where GOV.UK lists after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900.

Other questions about CIS returns