CIS and VAT guides and tools
Free guides in plain English, checked against HMRC. Start with the group that matches what you are worried about.
41 guides and tools
Budget 2026
Costs youmoney, if you plan on rates that change in 2027
What the Budget changes for builders, trades and sole traders, when each change starts, and which ones still need Parliament.
- Budget 2026 for builders, trades and the self-employedCIS did not change. Mileage, the trading allowance, capital allowances, diesel, payroll and VAT did, with every start date.
- VAT on solar panels, heat pumps and insulationWhat is on HMRC's list, what stays at the standard rate, and how jobs either side of the April 2027 change are taxed.
Or skip the reading and get somebody to run it every month.
See what we doDeadlines and penalties
Costs you£100 the day you are late, and there is a deadline every month
A CIS return is due by the 19th of every month, including months you paid nobody at all. One day late is £100, then £200 at two months, then £300 or 5% of the deductions at six and again at twelve.
- Free toolCIS deadline remindersSee the next deadline, and get a free email a week before every one after it.
- How CIS works when you pay subcontractorsThe whole scheme from the contractor's side, and the six things you do every month.
- How to register as a CIS contractorEmployer first, then CIS, before the first payday. And when your first return is actually due.
- Appealing a CIS penaltyThe usual reasons for a late return, and which ones HMRC accepts.
- The monthly return, nil returns and penaltiesEvery deadline to 2028, what being late costs, and the quiet months that still need a return.
- Free toolPayment and deduction statements, and a templateThe statement every subcontractor you deduct from needs within 14 days, what goes on it, and a free template to fill in and print.
Working out CIS deductions
Costs youthe shortfall, and HMRC comes to you for it, not to the subcontractor
Deduct too little and you are liable for the difference. The two commonest causes are paying somebody before verifying them, which forces 30%, and getting the labour and materials split wrong.
- Free toolCIS deduction calculatorPut an invoice in and get the deduction, what to pay them, and the statement figures, or work back from a payment to the invoice.
- How a CIS deduction is worked outThe order things come off in, with the arithmetic done, including the materials and the VAT that never get deducted from.
- How long to keep it allHow long to keep business records as a sole trader or company, and for VAT, CIS and payroll.
- What to put on a CIS invoiceThere is no legal format, and one missing line costs you money. A finished invoice, with the split that decides the deduction.
- What counts as materialsThe list HMRC actually gives, and the three costs people wrongly take off before deducting.
- Verifying a subcontractorHow to do it, the two tax year rule that decides whether you need to, and where the number goes.
- Gross payment statusHow a subcontractor gets paid in full with no CIS taken off, what the yearly review checks, and how it can be lost.
- Correcting a CIS mistakeYou can amend a return for this tax year and the six before it. What to do when the money was wrong, not just the paperwork.
- Deemed contractors, and the £3m ruleYou can be a contractor without building anything. What the threshold measures, and how to come back out.
If you are the one being deducted from
Costs youan extra 10% off every invoice, and a wait to get any of it back
Subcontractors do not get to choose whether CIS applies, only whether they are registered for it. Registered is 20%, not registered is 30%, and either way it is your money sitting with HMRC until you ask for it.
- Contractor vs subcontractor under CISWhat makes you a contractor, a subcontractor or both, with three common setups worked through.
- Registering as a CIS subcontractorWhether that is one registration or two, which depends entirely on whether you already have a UTR.
- Claiming your CIS deductions backSole traders claim through Self Assessment, companies through payroll. Use the wrong route and you get no refund.
- Free toolCIS tax refund calculatorPut in a year of pay, expenses and the CIS taken off, and see roughly how much HMRC could pay back.
- Payments on accountWho makes them, how much they are, why the first January bill is so big, and how CIS deductions and reducing them fit in.
The VAT reverse charge
Costs youVAT you charged that you should not have, or did not charge when you should
The domestic reverse charge changes who accounts for the VAT. It is the single most argued about rule in construction, and the conditions are narrower than most people think.
- Free toolThe VAT reverse charge, and a checkerAnswer a few questions about one invoice and find out whether it applies.
- The reverse charge on your VAT returnWhich boxes the supplier and the customer each fill in, with one job worked through on both returns.
- End users, and who actually countsWho counts as an end user, how a customer confirms it in writing, and why a building contractor usually does not.
- What your invoice must sayHMRC's accepted wording, the VAT figure people leave off, and an invoice filled in.
Registering for VAT
Costs youVAT on past sales, if you register late
You must register once your sales over the last 12 months go over the threshold. What counts toward it is not what most builders and landlords expect, and late registration is backdated.
Claims and allowances
Costs younothing visible, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed
Every other group here is about a bill arriving. This one is about the opposite: allowances you are entitled to and never take, usually because the record was not kept at the time. Mileage is the biggest of them, because it is the only expense with no receipt behind it.
- Retention in constructionWhat retention is, how it affects your CIS and VAT, and how to record it in your books.
- Allowable expenses for builders and tradesWhat you can claim, what you cannot, and a CIS subcontractor's year worked from income to profit.
- Free toolMileage calculatorPut your business miles in and get what they are worth, at the new rate or the old one.
- Mileage, and the rate that changed in April 202645p had stood since 2011 and is now 55p. Plus the bit nothing written for taxpayers covers: which journeys actually count.
Choosing a bookkeeper
Costs youusually nothing, until it costs you a year end you have to unpick
Plenty of contractors do their own books and are right to. It is worth knowing where that stops being true, and what the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant actually is.
- What a construction bookkeeper doesWhat we do every month, and the five things we will not do.
- Bookkeeper or accountant?What each one does, and which a construction or trades business needs.
- How much does a bookkeeper cost?How bookkeepers charge, what changes the price, and what it costs to employ your own.
Making Tax Digital and landlords
Costs youa penalty once you miss enough quarterly updates
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has started for sole traders and landlords with the highest incomes, and reaches more people each April. These guides cover who it applies to, when, and how rental income is taxed.
- Making Tax Digital for Income TaxWho has to use it and from when, the quarterly deadlines, and what it means for CIS subcontractors.
- Making Tax Digital penaltiesHow penalty points work, when you pay a fixed penalty, the late payment rates for each tax year, and how to appeal.
- Making Tax Digital for landlordsWhen it starts for you, what the quarterly updates are, and what to do now.
- Tax on rental incomeWhen to tell HMRC, the £1,000 allowance, what landlords can claim, and the new rates announced for April 2027.
- Free toolRental income tax calculatorSee the tax on your rent for this tax year or the two before it, with the mortgage interest credit and the property allowance worked out.
- The landlord register and its feeWho must register in England, your region's deadline, what the first payment really costs, and whether it is tax deductible.
Want us to do it for you?
We do the books, work out every CIS deduction, produce the statements, and have your CIS300 ready before the 19th. You check it and submit it. Join the waitlist for 2027.