How to register as a CIS subcontractor

Do I need to register for CIS as a subcontractor?

You do not have to, but it costs you if you do not. GOV.UK: If you do not register for the scheme, contractors must deduct 30% from your payments instead.

On £2,000 of labour, that is £600 taken off instead of £400. You get the extra £200 back when your tax is worked out at the end of the year, but until then it is your money sitting with HMRC.

You register if you work for a contractor as a sole trader, a partner, or the owner of a limited company.

The contractor’s side of the scheme, including how they take the deduction off your payments, is in how CIS works.

What do I need to register for CIS?

Four things, which HMRC asks everyone for:

• Your legal business name, and your trading name if it is different
• The Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) for your business
• Your VAT registration number, if you are VAT registered
• The date you started trading

Depending on your business, you may also need:

• Your National Insurance number
• Your Company Registration Number, if you are a limited company
• The registering partner’s details, including their UTR and National Insurance number, if you are a partnership
• Your Joint Venture Agreement, if you work as a joint venture

Source: GOV.UK, how to register, which adds: You could be fined if you provide false information and so could anyone who helps you to make a false registration.

How do I register for CIS as a subcontractor?

Online, in one of two ways, depending on whether you already have a UTR. Step by step:

1. Check whether you have a UTR. Your Unique Taxpayer Reference is a ten digit number. It is in your Personal Tax Account, in the HMRC app, and on old tax returns and letters from HMRC. If you have never registered for Self Assessment, you will not have one.
2. No UTR: register for Self Assessment as a new business. When it asks what you do, choose ‘working as a subcontractor’. That one registration covers Self Assessment and CIS, so you can skip step 3.
3. Got a UTR: register for CIS online. Use HMRC’s CIS registration on GOV.UK and sign in with your Government Gateway user ID, or create one when it asks. Have the details listed above to hand. Being registered for Self Assessment does not register you for CIS on its own.
4. Cannot do it online? Post the form. Use CIS301 for a sole trader, CIS304 for a partnership or CIS305 for a limited company. The address is on the GOV.UK page for each form.
5. Give each contractor the same details. Your UTR and your business name, exactly as you registered them. Your contractor uses them to verify you with HMRC, and that check sets the rate taken off your pay.

GOV.UK: If you do not have a UTR, register as a new business for Self Assessment and choose ‘working as a subcontractor’ when prompted. You’ll be registered for Self Assessment and CIS at the same time. When you start with a contractor, give them the exact details you gave when you registered for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). If they cannot verify you, it can affect how much you’re paid.

Once you are registered and verified, contractors take 20% off the labour on each payment and pass it to HMRC as an advance on your tax bill. HMRC calls this net payment status.

How long does CIS registration take?

It depends mostly on whether you need a UTR first. If you do, allow for the post. GOV.UK: You’ll usually get your UTR by post around 15 days after you register. It takes longer if you live overseas.

HMRC does not publish a fixed time for the CIS registration itself, but The quickest way to register is online. For the current wait, use HMRC’s reply times tool, which covers CIS and Self Assessment and is updated every week.

Register before your first job if you can. Until your contractor can verify you, they take 30%.

Do I have to register again if my business changes?

Yes, if the type of business changes, you will usually need a new CIS registration, as you cannot transfer the registration from your old business structure. That applies when:

• You go from sole trader to a partnership
• You leave a partnership or company to work as a sole trader
• You set up a company, or move your business into one

You must also tell HMRC if you change your trading name or address, or stop trading.

Source: GOV.UK, changes you need to report: Report changes by calling the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) helpline.

Can I be a CIS subcontractor and a contractor?

Yes, and then you register as both. If you pay anyone else to do construction work, you are a contractor too, with monthly returns to send. GOV.UK: If you’re a subcontractor and a CIS contractor (you pay subcontractors to do construction work), you’ll need to register for CIS as both.

How to register as a CIS contractor

Can I be paid with no CIS deductions?

Yes, with gross payment status, which means contractors take nothing off. You apply to HMRC, and applying also signs you up for CIS: This will also register you for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) if you’ve not already registered.

To get it, you need to show HMRC that:

• you have paid your tax and National Insurance on time in the past
• your business does construction work, or supplies labour for it, in the UK
• your business is run through a bank account
• your construction turnover over the last 12 months, leaving out VAT and materials, is at least £30,000 as a sole trader (partnerships and companies have their own figures)

Since 6 April 2026, HMRC can also cancel the status straight away where a business knew or should have known it was in a supply chain connected with fraud. How gross payment status works

Other questions about registering