12 · Construction contractors
The monthly CIS return done in minutes, not an evening.
Enter what each subcontractor was paid. The deduction is worked out on the labour only, every statement is ready to send, and the month's figures are laid out the way the return asks for them.
For the bookkeeper
Today, without it
Deductions are worked out in a spreadsheet somebody built years ago.
Materials get taxed by mistake, and a subcontractor rings to complain.
Statements are typed one at a time on the night before the deadline.
Try it
This month's subcontractors
Change a payment, move the materials figure, switch a subcontractor to unverified and watch the deduction follow.
Example Build Ltd, tax month ending 5 October 2026. Made-up firms and figures. Change any cell.
- Labour£3,150.00Deduction at 20%£630.00Net pay£5,130.00
- Labour£5,150.00Deduction at 20%£1,030.00Net pay£7,670.00
- Labour£1,860.00Deduction at 30%£558.00Net pay£1,302.00
- Labour£2,500.00Deduction at 0%£0.00Net pay£4,080.00
- Labour£1,903.37Deduction at 20%£380.67Net pay£1,934.80
Rates and rules as published by HMRC for the Construction Industry Scheme. This is a demonstration, not tax advice.
The month, as the return asks for it
- Subcontractors on the return
- 5
- Total payments, excluding VAT
- £19,625.47
- Total cost of materials
- £5,062.10
- Labour, liable to deduction
- £14,563.37
- Total deducted, to pay to HMRC
- £2,598.67
- Net paid to subcontractors, VAT included
- £20,116.80
- Statements to send
- 4
Each deduction is rounded down to the penny on its own row, then added, so the return agrees with the statements. Return due 19 October 2026.
PAYMENT AND DEDUCTION STATEMENT
Construction Industry Scheme
Demonstration, made-up data
- Contractor
- Example Build Ltd
- Accounts Office reference
- 000PX00000000
- Tax month ending
- 5 October 2026
- Deduction rate applied
- Registered, 20%
- Subcontractor
- Example Roofing
- Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
- 0000000001
- Gross amount paid, excluding VAT
- £4,800.00
- Less cost of materials, excluding VAT
- £1,650.00
- Amount liable to deduction
- £3,150.00
- Amount deducted at 20%
- £630.00
- VAT, paid in full
- £960.00
- Net paid to subcontractor
- £5,130.00
Figures exclude VAT. The deduction is worked out on the amount paid after the direct cost of materials has been taken off, and is rounded down to the nearest penny.
How it runs
Four steps, nobody chasing.
STEP 1
Enter each payment: labour, materials, and whether the subcontractor is verified.
STEP 2
The deduction is worked out on labour only, at the right rate.
STEP 3
Each subcontractor's payment and deduction statement is produced, ready to send.
STEP 4
The month's totals are laid out the way the return asks for them.
Your numbers
The hours CIS takes each month
Example figures, change them
Count the names on last month's return.
Working out the deduction and typing the statement, for one of them.
Adding it up, checking it and entering it each month.
Their pay, or what your bookkeeper charges you.
CIS takes, each month
3 hr 54 min
- On deductions and statements
- 2 hr 24 min
- On the return
- 1 hr 30 min
- At your hourly cost, a month
- £109.20
- Over twelve months
- 46 hr 48 min, £1,310.40
The sum
12 subcontractors × 12 minutes = 144 minutes. Add 1.5 hours on the return (90 minutes): 234 minutes, which is 3 hr 54 min a month. 234 minutes ÷ 60 × £28 an hour = £109.20 a month.
This is arithmetic on your own figures. It is not a promise of results.
Works with what you have
Sits beside your subcontractor list and your accounts software.
Every demo on this site runs on made-up data. The real one is built around your phone line, your diary and the software you already use.
Get in touch
See it run on your own numbers.
Two quick answers. Adrians replies by email and shows you the system working with your figures, not ours.
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