How do I register for the Construction Industry Scheme as a contractor?

Do I need to register for CIS?

If your business deals with construction work for buildings in any way, including site preparation, decorating and refurbishment, you may find that you need to register for CIS.

You could be considered either a mainstream contractor, which means you’re a construction firm that pays subcontractors for construction work (you might be a builder, labour agency or property developer for example); or a ‘deemed’ contractor.

A ‘deemed’ contractor is if your company doesn’t do construction work, but you have spent more than £3m on construction in the 12 months since you made your first payment.

You would be exempt from the scheme and therefore wouldn’t need to register if your work is paid by a charity or trust, a governing body or head teacher of a maintained school (on behalf of the local education authority), or on the subcontractor’s own property and it’s worth less than £1,000 (excluding materials).

Another reason why you might be exempt from registering for CIS is if you carry out certain construction work, such as carpet fitting, delivering materials and architecture and surveying.

How do I register for CIS?

If you do fit the criteria for registering for CIS as a contractor then you’ll need to register yourself as an employer with HMRC.

You’ll need to complete this process before the first payday, but you can’t register more than two months before you start paying subcontractors – it’s worth noting that it can take up to 15 working days to get your employer PAYE reference number.

Once you have registered, you’ll have certain responsibilities as a contractor, such as filing monthly returns and ensuring you make the correct tax deductions for each subcontractor.

For more information on this, read our What are my responsibilities as a contractor? page.

We hope you found this page useful. If you have any further questions on CIS or anything else, our team of experts are available to answer any queries, so give us a call on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.