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Trade Tax Specialists

CIS guides

CIS and construction tax, explained.

Practical guides on CIS deductions, refunds, gross payment status, VAT reverse charge, expenses and limited company accounting for construction. Written by specialist CIS accountants.

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CIS Basics

19 articles

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CIS Compliance

19 articles

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CIS Advanced

8 articles

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Software and Tools

8 articles

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CIS Refunds

5 articles

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VAT and MTD

4 articles

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Expenses

2 articles

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Limited Company

2 articles

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  • CIS Basics

    Do Construction Companies Survive Better or Worse Than the UK Average?

    Insolvency headlines suggest construction is the UK's most fragile sector. ONS Business Demography survival data tells a more complete story: of the construction companies born in 2019, 43.3% were still trading five years later in 2024, against 38.4% across all UK industries. This article works through the full cohort-by-cohort survival series compiled in our UK Construction Survival Index, explains why a better-than-average survival rate does not contradict rising insolvency counts, and sets out what the pattern means for a trade business owner planning for the long term.

    7 min read

  • CIS Compliance

    How Long Do Large Construction Firms Actually Take to Pay? The Data

    Every large UK business must publish, by law, how long it takes to pay its suppliers. We compiled that statutory disclosure for 225 large construction businesses and cross-checked each one against its registered Companies House SIC code. The median is 33 days. Almost one in four takes more than 45 days on average, and eight companies pay over half their invoices later than 60 days. This article works through what the data shows, names the extremes at either end (using each company's own published disclosure), and sets out what a subcontractor should actually do about a slow-paying main contractor, from payment terms to retentions to CIS cashflow.

    5 min read

  • CIS Advanced

    The Collapse in UK Construction Net Company Formation, 2016 to 2025

    Net formation across UK construction, new companies incorporated minus companies dissolved in the same calendar year, fell 95.6% between 2016 and 2025, from +30,361 to just +1,341 companies a year across the 19 construction SIC codes tracked by Companies House. The cause is not a slowdown in new companies starting up: incorporations actually rose over the decade, from 53,567 to 67,839. The cause is dissolutions, which nearly tripled, from 23,206 to 66,498, and in 2025 came close to matching the number of new firms outright. For the first time on record, construction of domestic buildings (SIC 41202) went net negative in 2025, meaning more housebuilding companies closed than opened. Partial 2026 data shows a tentative rebound, but it is four months of provisional figures, not a confirmed reversal. This article sets out what the data shows, why dissolutions rather than fewer start-ups are driving the collapse, and what it means for CIS subcontractors and contractors assessing counterparty risk and their own incorporation decisions.

    7 min read

  • Expenses

    Vans, Tools and Equipment: Capital Allowances for Trades 2026/27

    Capital allowances are how the tax system gives you relief for the big kit: the van, the mini digger, the scaffold tower, the jetting unit. For 2026/27 the rules moved. Finance Act 2026 cut the main-rate writing down allowance from 18% to 14% and introduced a new 40% first-year allowance, while the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance and the 6% special rate are unchanged. This pillar guide works through the full 2026/27 toolkit for construction trades: what counts as capital rather than a day-to-day expense, how the AIA, the new 40% FYA and the pools interact, buying versus leasing a van, the mileage-rate trap, tools and plant, the drainage question, what happens when you sell an asset, and how all of it feeds a CIS subcontractor's refund.

    14 min read

  • CIS Compliance

    Which Construction Sub-Sectors Have the Most Insolvencies (And Which Are Getting Worse Fastest)

    Insolvency Service data broken down by SIC division shows that specialised construction trades, electrical, plumbing, plastering, joinery, groundworks and demolition among them, account for more than half of all construction company insolvencies in the trailing twelve months. But the sub-sector with the fastest-deteriorating trend over the last decade is building construction, where insolvency counts have risen 79.9% since 2016, more than twice the rate of civil engineering. This article separates the two questions that get conflated in headline construction insolvency figures: which sub-sector carries the largest share of failures today, and which sub-sector is getting worse the fastest.

    5 min read

  • CIS Basics

    The State of UK Construction Business 2026

    Two proprietary datasets, drawn entirely from Companies House and Insolvency Service public records, reveal the real picture of UK construction in 2026. Electricians and plumbers lead company formation at over 7,000 new firms each per year. A March incorporation spike, running about 15% above the monthly average across the decade, points directly to the 6 April tax deadline. And trailing-twelve-month insolvencies stand at 4,038, up 49.9% over a decade, with creditors voluntary liquidations accounting for around three quarters of all cases. This article works through what each of those numbers means for a CIS subcontractor or trade business owner making decisions about structure, payment terms, and financial risk.

    11 min read

  • CIS Advanced

    Why UK Construction Company Formations Spike Every March

    Analysis of Companies House registration data for 2016 to 2025 shows that March is consistently the busiest month for new UK construction company formations, running roughly 14.7% above the monthly mean. The driver is not coincidence but a structural response to the UK tax calendar: sole traders who have decided to incorporate rush to form their company in March so it begins trading from 6 April, the first day of the new tax year, giving them the cleanest possible accounting start date and avoiding a broken sole-trader year that is neither one thing nor the other.

    9 min read

  • CIS Compliance

    UK Construction Insolvencies: The Decade Trend and What It Means for CIS Subcontractors

    Construction company insolvencies in England, Wales and Scotland rose 49.9% between 2016 and 2025, from 2,793 to 4,188 per year. Creditors voluntary liquidation accounts for nearly three in four cases, and the practical consequences for subcontractors are severe. Unpaid invoices, trapped retentions, and the cascading effect of main-contractor failure are real and common risks. This article explains what the data shows, what each insolvency procedure means for an unsecured creditor, and what CIS subcontractors and trade businesses can do to reduce their exposure.

    12 min read

  • CIS Basics

    Which Construction Trades Are Going Limited? Company Incorporations by Trade Ranked

    Companies House data for 2025 shows that electricians and plumbers are incorporating at a scale that dwarfs every other trade, while joiners are growing fastest on a year-on-year basis. But volume alone does not tell a subcontractor what to do. This piece ranks all eight core trades by 2025 incorporations, traces their decade-long growth, and sets the numbers alongside the limited-vs-sole-trader tax decision that each trade's typical profit profile shapes.

    13 min read

  • CIS Compliance

    CIS End of Year: What Contractors and Subcontractors Must Do

    There is no annual CIS return filing event. The Construction Industry Scheme runs on monthly returns throughout the year, and year-end is simply the close of the final tax month on 5 April. But that close triggers a different set of obligations for contractors and subcontractors depending on how they trade. This guide sets out what each party must do between 5 April and the weeks that follow, and how to avoid the mismatches that delay repayments.

    7 min read

  • CIS Compliance

    Unallocated Credit on Your HMRC Account: How to Reclaim CIS Deductions

    If your HMRC account shows an unallocated credit and you are a CIS subcontractor, the money has arrived but HMRC has not yet matched it to your tax position. This guide explains what that term means, why limited companies use the EPS route to recover deductions monthly, why credits sometimes stall (mismatched deduction statements, wrong employer reference, late EPS), and the practical steps to get the money moving again including repayment timelines, phone versus webchat, and the year-end Corporation Tax offset. Sole traders follow a different route via Self Assessment.

    8 min read

  • Expenses

    Expenses CIS Subcontractors Can Claim: the 2026/27 Guide

    CIS subcontractors overpay tax because deductions are taken at 20% on the labour element of every payment before any expenses are accounted for. Claiming every allowable expense is how most of that overpayment turns into a refund. This guide covers the full construction-specific expense map for 2026/27, including the new 55p mileage rate, tools and PPE, materials, subsistence on site, and the trades-by-trade breakdown.

    15 min read