CIS Tax Rebate calculator

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Construction worker? Quickly calculate how big your CIS tax rebate is and what expenses you can claim. Sometimes you can claim expenses even without receipts - use this calculator to see if you qualify. View all our calculators

If you work in construction, most likely your contractor takes a 20% flat from your pay and gives it to HMRC as part of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).

By doing your CIS tax return you can claim back what you spent on things like equipment, clothing, meals, and travel. Plus you get back your tax-free Personal Allowance!

That’s an average tax rebate of £2,000.

Common questions

You’re not alone. If you’ve got a question about tax we’ve probably heard it before and have an answer, or we can walk you through what to do.

More self-service guides and FAQs

What you need to do:

Register for HMRC’s online service and enrol for self-employment
You’ll get your Government Gateway ID (by email) and your UTR number (by post)
Register for CIS at HMRC’s website using your Government Gateway ID
Choose your CIS payment status – net pay or gross pay
You’re done

If you don’t register for CIS, your contractor will send 30% of your pay to HMRC, instead of 20%.

The only things we need from you are:

CIS payslips from your contractor
any receipts related to expenses that you want to claim and your UTR number

Here is how you get your UTR

There are a ton of CIS deductions you can use to increase your rebate:

your own tools and equipment, plus their repair – anything that is not already provided by your contractor, and which you bought for work
transport (including your own driving), meals at the contractor’s site
mobile phone bills, Builders Liability Insurance premiums
plus a few allowances: home office allowance, the mileage allowance, etc

One very important thing to keep in mind: if your expenses are under £1,000, don’t bother with them – just claim £1,000 as a flat, tax-free allowance. All self-employed people can use it.

You can claim your transport in one of these two ways:

do you use your car for work 75% of the time? Then you can claim 75% of leasing, fuel, car insurance, road tax, etc. Pretty good if you bought the van just for work. Or,
you can simply use HMRC’s simplified expense rate called “the mileage allowance“: it starts at 45p a mile. Better if you owned the van already and if you drive for work often.

If you can’t find your receipts, don’t worry.

You can still claim a flat £1,000 allowance (called “the Trading Allowance”) so you can increase your CIS tax refund.

For most people, this is actually more than their expenses anyway, and we help you claim it all within our app.

Need help getting your CIS tax rebate?

Figuring out how much HMRC owes you and what you can claim to increase your refund is hard.

At TaxScouts, we do it for you online, fast, and for just £119, all in.

If you can’t afford to pay in advance, we also give you the option to pay after your refund.

Click the button below and see if you qualify.

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Common questions

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