The CIS accountant who gets your money back.

Most accountants see one or two CIS clients a year. They treat the deductions on your invoices as a footnote, file last year, and move on.

That is how refunds get left at HMRC, returns get filed late, and subbies end up on the wrong deduction rate for years without anyone noticing.

A specialist CIS accountant works the scheme every single day. We know where your money gets stuck, because we have pulled it back out for hundreds of people in construction before you.

Under CIS, the contractor who pays you takes tax straight off your labour before the money reaches your bank, and hands it to HMRC on your behalf.

Registered and verified, that deduction is 20%. Unregistered or unverified, HMRC takes 30%. Win gross payment status and they take nothing, you are paid in full and settle up later.

The deduction only applies to the labour part of your invoice. Genuine materials, plant hire and certain other costs are taken out of the figure first, as long as you can evidence them, so your invoices need to separate labour from materials cleanly.

That money is an advance on your tax bill, not the bill itself. The system over-collects from most subcontractors, which is exactly why so many are owed a refund.

The moment you pay another subcontractor for construction work, you are a contractor in HMRC’s eyes, and a new set of duties lands on you.

Before that first payment, you must verify each subbie with HMRC to confirm their correct deduction rate. Skip it, or fail to match them, and you have to deduct at the higher 30% rate, which makes you very unpopular on site.

Every month you file a CIS return showing exactly who you paid and what you deducted, and you issue each subbie a payment and deduction statement. Even a quiet month needs a nil return unless you tell HMRC you are inactive.

Miss a return and the penalties are automatic and they stack up fast. We run the whole monthly cycle for you, so verification, deductions and filing simply happen without you thinking about it.

If you and your customer are both VAT registered and the work is reported under CIS, the domestic reverse charge usually applies. You do not charge VAT on the invoice, the customer accounts for it instead.

Get it wrong and it breaks your cashflow and your returns, and it is one of the first things flagged in an inspection. It does not apply when you supply an end user or a customer who is not VAT registered.

We set up your VAT and your software so the reverse charge is applied correctly on every invoice, and your returns reflect it properly. We also tell you when registering for VAT actually works in your favour.

As a sole trader, CIS is straightforward. Your deductions are reclaimed through Self Assessment, and you pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your profit.

As a limited company, CIS is reclaimed against the PAYE you run for yourself and any staff, which is faster on cashflow. You pay Corporation Tax on profit, then take a salary and dividends.

A company means more admin and tighter records, including payroll and accounts at Companies House. The right answer depends on what you earn and how you work.

We model both for your numbers and tell you, plainly, which one leaves more in your pocket.