Self Assessment for Subcontractors
If you work under CIS, 20% has already come off your labour before you saw a penny of it. That deduction is taken before anyone accounts for your van, your tools, your mileage or your personal allowance.
Which is why most subcontractors have overpaid by the end of the year, and why the return is the point at which you get it back.
What you can claim
The things that are missed most often:
- Vehicle costs, whether on mileage or actual running costs
- Tools, equipment and their replacement
- Protective clothing and branded workwear
- Materials you paid for yourself
- Travel and subsistence where the rules allow
- Use of home for the admin side of the business
- Phone, insurance, trade subscriptions, accountancy fees
Some of these have conditions attached, and claiming the wrong thing is worse than not claiming it. That is the part we handle.
The dates that matter
5 October: deadline to register if you became self employed in the tax year just ended.
31 October: paper returns.
31 January: online returns, the balancing payment, and the first payment on account.
31 July: the second payment on account.
Payments on account catch out most people in their first couple of years, because the January bill is larger than expected. If your CIS deductions cover your liability, they can reduce or remove the problem, which is another reason to file early rather than in the last week of January.
File early, not in January
Filing in May does not mean paying in May. The payment date does not move. What it does mean is that you know the number nine months in advance, and if a refund is due you have it in the business rather than waiting.
What we need from you
Your CIS deduction statements, your invoices, your bank statements and your receipts. If they are in a carrier bag, that is fine, we have seen worse. We will tell you what is missing rather than guess.
What we do
We prepare the return, reconcile every CIS deduction so nothing is left unclaimed, check the expenses that are genuinely available to you, tell you what you owe or are owed well before the deadline, and file it.
And because we work only with trades and construction, we already know what your year looks like.
Common questions
Will I get a refund? Often, but not always. It depends on your income, your expenses and how much was deducted. We will tell you the number, not a guess.
How long does a refund take? Usually a few weeks after filing, though HMRC can hold repayments for checks.
I have not filed for a few years. Can you help? Yes. Bringing it up to date voluntarily is treated far better than waiting for HMRC to make contact.
Can I claim for my van? Usually, on one basis or the other. Which basis is better depends on the vehicle and your mileage.
Call to action
Get your return done early and know where you stand. Book a call.
Jamie Roberts, Roofer
The problem
Jamie had built a good sole trader business over several years, but he was overwhelmed by HMRC bills and demands. His previous accountant didn’t offer tax advice, so he had no idea what reliefs were available to him or what he could have done differently.
What we did
The situation felt urgent, so we ran the initial review in the evening rather than making him wait for a daytime slot. Plenty of work coming in, no daily bookkeeping, no clarity on the accounts, and no warning before a tax bill landed.
We took the bookkeeping off him and restructured the business as a limited company: new tax codes, staff onto payroll, and calls with HMRC to get the existing position straightened out. Then we put a plan in place for the next few years.
The result
Jamie is in control again and confident about where the business is heading. He keeps more of what he earns, and he spends his time on roofs rather than paperwork.