CIS & Trades Accountant in Bellingham & Downham

What we do for trades

• ✓ Your Self Assessment return with CIS deductions claimed back, so overpaid tax comes back to you as a refund
• ✓ Checking every payment and deduction statement against what you were actually paid
• ✓ Claiming your van, tools, protective clothing and other costs of the job
• ✓ Monthly CIS returns if you pay subcontractors, including verifying them with HMRC first
• ✓ Help applying for gross payment status once your business qualifies

How CIS works if you're a subcontractor

Under CIS, the contractor paying you has to deduct tax from the labour part of your invoice and pass it to HMRC. If you're registered for CIS, the deduction is 20%. If you're not registered, it's 30%. Materials you've supplied shouldn't have tax taken off them, so an invoice that shows labour and materials separately matters.

Those deductions are an advance payment towards your tax for the year, not the final bill. Once your expenses and your Personal Allowance are taken into account, many subcontractors have paid more than they owe and are due money back. That only happens if you file a tax return and claim it. If you're a sole trader, the refund comes through your Self Assessment. If you trade through a limited company, the deductions are set against what the company owes HMRC through payroll instead.

If you're the contractor

When you pay other trades to work on a job, you become a contractor under CIS, even if you're a subcontractor on other jobs yourself. Before paying a new subcontractor, you have to verify them with HMRC to find out what rate to deduct. Then, every month, you file a CIS return covering the tax month ending on the 5th. It's due by the 19th, and you give each subcontractor a statement of what you deducted.

A return is due every month even if nothing changes, unless you've told HMRC you made no payments that month. Late returns bring automatic penalties that grow the longer they're left, and they add up quickly across several months. We run the monthly return for you so it never slips.

VAT on building work

If you're VAT-registered and supply construction services to another VAT-registered business within CIS, the domestic reverse charge usually applies. You don't charge VAT on the invoice. The customer accounts for it instead. Work done directly for homeowners isn't covered, and normal VAT applies. Getting the wording on your invoices right is part of what we check.

Common questions

CIS questions, answered.