How to claim a CIS refund

How do I claim a CIS refund?

It depends on how you trade. The deductions a contractor takes from your pay are advance payments towards your tax, and you get back whatever turns out to be more than your tax.

• Sole trader or partner: through your Self Assessment tax return, once a year.
• Limited company: through your payroll each month, then a refund claim to HMRC for anything left after the tax year ends.

Source: GOV.UK, pay tax and claim back deductions.

The deduction is taken by the contractor each month. How CIS works explains that side of the scheme.

How do I claim a CIS refund as a sole trader?

Through your Self Assessment tax return, sent as usual after the tax year ends. There is no separate refund form unless you stop trading. If you use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you request the refund separately in your HMRC online account.

1. Gather your payment and deduction statements. Each contractor should give you a monthly statement of what they paid you and what they took off. Add up the deductions for the year.
2. Enter your full pay and the deductions. Your pay goes in before anything was taken off, and the deductions go in their own box, shown below.
3. Claim your business expenses as normal. They lower your profit, and so the tax you owe. What you can claim as a builder or trade
4. Send the return. HMRC will work out how much tax you owe and take off any deductions taken by contractors. If you’re due a tax refund, HMRC will pay the money back.

One catch: if you have tax due within 45 days, such as a payment on account, HMRC may set the refund against that instead of paying it out.

GOV.UK, Self Assessment: You may not get a refund if you have tax due in the next 45 days (for example for a payment on account).

How do I put CIS on my Self Assessment tax return?

Add up the CIS deductions on your contractors’ statements for the tax year and put the total in the CIS box on the self-employment pages. Your income goes in at the full amount, before anything was taken off.

On the pages for the 2025 to 2026 tax year:

• Short pages (SA103S), for turnover under £90,000: the deductions go in box 38 and your full pay in box 9, ‘Your turnover’.
• Full pages (SA103F): the deductions go in box 81 and your full pay in box 15.
• Online: you record the same two figures, your total pay before deductions were taken, as ‘income’ and the total deductions contractors have taken, as ‘CIS deductions’.

Box 82 on the full pages, ‘Other tax taken off trading income’, is not for CIS. HMRC’s notes: If you have had any other tax taken off (not CIS deductions), put the amount in box 82.

You do not send the statements with your return, but keep them: HMRC checks the CIS on your return against what your contractors reported. If a statement is missing, ask the contractor for it. If they have gone out of business, GOV.UK explains how to write to HMRC instead.

HMRC takes the deductions off your tax bill, then pays back what is left over once it has taken off anything else you owe it. If the deductions come to less than the bill, you pay the rest by 31 January 2027, and your payments on account for the next year are based on the bill after the CIS is taken off.

With gross payment status nothing is taken off, so there are no CIS deductions to enter. A limited company does not use these pages: its deductions go through payroll, as explained below.

What to do now

• Collect a payment and deduction statement from every contractor for 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, and chase any that are missing.
• Check the total deductions against your invoices and bank statements.
• Check roughly what comes back with our refund calculator, then send the return online by 31 January 2027 (paper returns were due by 31 October 2026).

We keep your books and deduction statements in order all year, so these figures are ready for whoever sends your return.

How much CIS refund will I get?

The total deducted, minus the tax HMRC works out you owe for the year. Here is a sole trader as an example.

Say you invoiced £45,000 in a year: £40,000 of labour and £5,000 of materials. Contractors took 20% off the labour, so £8,000 was deducted and £37,000 reached your bank.

• Income on your return: £45,000, the full invoices.
• CIS deductions on your return: £8,000.
• Your tax bill: say HMRC works it out at £5,200 after your expenses.
• Your refund: £8,000 minus £5,200 is £2,800 back.

The tax bill here is made up for the example; yours depends on your profit. If you put £37,000 as income and leave the deductions box empty, nothing on the return shows the £8,000 you have already paid.

Work out your own with our CIS tax refund calculator.

How does a limited company claim a CIS refund?

In two stages: set the deductions against the company’s PAYE bill each month, then claim what is left once the tax year has ended.

1. Send your Full Payment Submission (FPS) as usual. This is your normal monthly payroll report to HMRC.
2. Send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) at the same time. Enter the total CIS deductions for the year to date.
3. Pay the balance. HMRC will take your CIS deductions off what you owe. You pay the rest by the usual date.
4. Carry any excess forward. If the deductions are more than the bill, the rest goes into the next month or quarter, as long as it’s still the same tax year.
5. Claim the rest after the year ends. If there are deductions left over after the end of the tax year, claim a refund. A tax year runs from 6 April to the following 5 April.

Do not put the deductions on the company tax return. GOV.UK says Do not use your Corporation Tax return to pay tax with your deductions, and warns you may get a penalty if you do.

What happens to CIS deductions left over at the end of the year?

You claim them back. The deductions can only go against the company’s own PAYE bill, so when they are bigger each month, the excess builds up. Here a company invoices £8,000 of labour a month, has 20% deducted, and owes £950 a month in PAYE.

£7,800 is left when the year ends, and that is the claim. GOV.UK says what happens next: After you claim, we’ll use your deductions to pay any overdue PAYE or Corporation Tax balances. Whatever remains you can take as a refund, or use it to pay VAT or upcoming Corporation Tax bills.

What do I need to claim a CIS refund?

For a limited company, the claim asks for:

• How much you overpaid in the tax year you are claiming for
• Your company name, telephone number and address
• Your PAYE reference number
• Your company’s Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
• Bank details, if you want the money paid to you

You also need these sent to HMRC first: all your FPS and EPS, your monthly CIS returns if you are also a contractor, and your Company Tax returns. Keep your deduction statements and bank statements to hand in case HMRC asks for them.

GOV.UK, claim a CIS refund: the overpayment This is the total amount of CIS deductions taken, minus the total amount of tax paid using CIS deductions. If you’re not sure, give us an estimate.

A sole trader needs the deduction statements and the usual Self Assessment details, as no separate claim is made.

How long does a CIS refund take?

For a limited company, HMRC usually replies within 8 weeks of the claim. GOV.UK: We’ll usually respond to your claim within 8 weeks. If anything is missing or does not match, that reply may ask you for more information first.

For a sole trader, GOV.UK gives no set time for a Self Assessment refund. HMRC’s check when you can expect a reply tool shows current times for both CIS and Self Assessment. The information in this tool is updated weekly.

If your online account shows the refund as pending, GOV.UK explains: This means that the refund has been created but still needs to be approved and paid.

Why is my CIS refund taking so long?

Usually because something is missing or does not match. The common causes:

• A return has not been sent. A company needs all its FPS and EPS, any monthly CIS returns and its Company Tax returns in before HMRC deals with the claim.
• Your figures do not match HMRC’s. We check if your information matches the information your contractor has given us. If they differ, HMRC asks for your deduction statements and bank statements.
• HMRC has used it for something you owe. A company’s deductions clear overdue PAYE or Corporation Tax first. A sole trader’s refund can go against tax due in the next 45 days.
• The tax year has not ended. You can claim for a tax year once it has ended.

Source: GOV.UK, claim a refund of CIS deductions.

Can I claim a CIS refund before the tax year ends?

Only in a few cases. A limited company can claim early if:

• your business has stopped trading
• you’ve had deductions taken after changing to gross payment status

The early claim must include copies of all the deduction statements and bank statements for the year so far. A sole trader who stops trading can claim early too: You may be able to get a refund of deductions you’ve already paid this tax year.

How far back can I claim a CIS refund?

A limited company can claim online for any of the past 6 tax years, and by post for years before that. A postal claim is a letter asking HMRC for a CIS repayment, with ‘CIS’ written on the envelope.

GOV.UK: For the past 6 tax years, you can claim online or by post. For earlier tax years, you must claim by post.

Other questions about CIS refunds

GOV.UK: If you want us to pay an agent or nominated person, submit your claim with a completed form R38 or signed authority. If you need to make changes or update a previously submitted claim, use the online form again and enter the correct details.