HMRC-registered Construction Industry Scheme specialists serving subcontractors and contractors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. CIS tax refund claims, CIS300 monthly returns, subcontractor verification, gross payment status applications — all from a fixed monthly fee.
CIS Accountant — UK
The Construction Industry Scheme is one of HMRC's most actively enforced compliance regimes, and one of the most expensive to get wrong. Subcontractors typically have 20% withheld from every payment they receive — a deduction calculated before their personal allowance, before any business expenses, and before the lower Class 4 NI thresholds are applied. For the average UK subcontractor this means a refund of somewhere between £1,500 and £4,000 is sitting with HMRC every tax year, waiting to be claimed back through self-assessment. Contractors face the opposite problem: a calendar of monthly CIS300 returns, subcontractor verifications, materials apportionments and penalty risk that adds up quickly when something is missed.
Your Tax Help Accountants is an HMRC-registered agent practice specialising in CIS. We work with sole-trader subcontractors, limited-company subcontractors, mixed contractor-subcontractor businesses, main contractors and property developers across the whole of the UK. From sole-trader bricklayers in Bradford to small limited-company groundworkers in Glasgow, plastering teams in Belfast to scaffolding firms in Bristol, the workflow is consistent: a free fifteen-minute call to scope your situation, a fixed quote, secure document upload, a full four-year prior-return review for new subcontractor clients, and a filed return well in advance of the deadline. The same accountant who scopes your case files your return.
If you are a subcontractor and you have not had your last four years of self-assessment returns reviewed, there is a strong chance HMRC is holding money that belongs to you. Most new clients discover unclaimed expenses, mis-coded deductions on materials, or miscalculated payments on account that recover several hundred to several thousand pounds.
What We Handle
Full SA100 self-assessment return reconciling annual income against CIS deductions, personal allowance and expenses. Most subcontractors are owed money — we file the return that gets it back, typically within four to six weeks of HMRC receiving it.
Monthly CIS300 contractor returns filed by the 19th of every month. Subcontractor lists, gross payments, materials, deduction rates and CIS withheld — all reconciled and filed on time. Nil returns included where no subcontractors were paid.
Application support for subcontractors who qualify for 0% CIS deduction. Three-test assessment (business, turnover, compliance), supporting evidence, HMRC submission and ongoing compliance monitoring to maintain status.
Verification of every new subcontractor with HMRC to confirm their CIS status and the correct rate to apply (20%, 30% or gross). Misverification is one of the most common contractor compliance failures and one of the easiest to fix.
Correct identification of materials and plant hire costs which should not have CIS applied. Many subcontractors lose hundreds of pounds per year because contractors apply CIS to materials too — we recover this during refund claims.
Multi-month CIS300 backlogs, multi-year subcontractor SA100 arrears, missing UTRs, HMRC penalty letters, formal enquiries. We bring CIS-affected clients back into full compliance within four to six weeks of engagement.
Many construction businesses are both — subcontracting to larger firms while engaging others themselves. We handle the dual position cleanly: CIS300 filings, refund claims and reconciliation of money flowing both ways.
Standard onboarding step for new subcontractor clients: a four-year review of past self-assessment returns to identify missed expenses, mis-coded materials deductions and overpayment relief opportunities. Most new clients receive a refund within their first month.
We deal with HMRC for you. Penalty appeals, enquiry responses, status disputes, Time to Pay arrangements, repayment chases, IR35 queries on engagement boundaries, and the brown-envelope letters that arrive at the wrong moment.
Late CIS300 returns trigger an automatic £100 penalty per return, escalating to £200, then £300, then percentages of the unpaid deductions for prolonged delays. Unclaimed CIS refunds expire after four tax years — every April some money becomes permanently irrecoverable. We take late-arrival cases through to full compliance routinely, often within a single calendar month.
Recent Client Outcome
A self-employed groundworks subcontractor based in Manchester came to us in October having filed his own self-assessment returns for four consecutive years. He had taken the HMRC printouts of his CIS deductions, declared the gross income, claimed a modest set of expenses, and accepted the refund HMRC issued each year — typically around £900. He thought he was already getting most of what he was owed.
We reviewed all four prior years. The contractors he subcontracted to had been deducting 20% CIS on the full gross invoice, including materials he had purchased and supplied directly. His prior returns had captured none of this. We also identified: van running costs not claimed in full, mileage at the correct HMRC rates, tools and PPE expenditure, mobile phone proportion, business insurance, a small home-office contribution for paperwork and invoicing, and CITB levy contributions that should have been a deduction. Amended returns went in for the two years still inside the amendment window; overpayment relief claims covered the two earlier years.
Total recovered from HMRC: £6,840. Ongoing tax saving from correct expense treatment: approximately £1,200 per year. Engagement fee: £620. He has remained a client since and we file his returns annually as part of a fixed monthly fee.
Why Construction Clients Choose Us
CIS Questions Answered
Free fifteen-minute consultation. Fixed quote within twenty-four hours. Subcontractors typically see their refund within four to six weeks of return submission. Contractors get monthly CIS300 filing on a fixed retainer. Same accountant, start to finish.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk — we typically respond within two business hours.