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January 14, 2026
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What You Need to Know About CIS Tax Repayment Claims?
The construction industry scheme, or CIS, is how the contractor pays subcontractors, such as plumbers, electricians, and others.When they pay you, they take out tax from your pay. This means that if they have to pay you £1,000, they’ll pay you only £800 and send the rest to the HMRC. Since, they charge the basic rate i.e., 20%, you can file a CIS repayment claim afterwards. This may let you claim CIS refund. Here is all the information you need to do that.“81% of all respondents agree that CIS is effective in ensuring that construction businesses pay income tax.”(Evaluating the Construction Industry Scheme Report for HM Revenue and Customs)
Eligibility to file a CIS claim:
Your eligibility to file a CIS repayment claim is defined by the following criteria.- Either your tax or national insurance is overpaid
- You are a subcontractor or agent of a limited company.
Who can claim repayment of deductions from CIS:
Following qualify as someone who can claim repayment of deductions from CIS:- Sole trader who is self-employed and registered under CIS.
- Partnership that works in construction.
- Limited company that works as subcontractor.
What documents do you need
To file a CIS repayment claim, you need the following documents:Information of the company:
You need the following information of your company to file a CIS repayment claim:- Name of the company
- Address
- Telephone number
PAYE Reference number:
A PAYE reference number is allotted by the HMRC to businesses. It helps them pay their employees through the UK tax system i.e., the PAYE system. It is composed of some letters and numbers. The PAYE reference number has two parts. The first is the office number of HMRC and consists of 3 digits. The second is a reference number which is unique to your business. You need this to file a CIS repayment claim.UTR of the company
A UTR or unique tax reference is issued by the HMRC to all the new limited companies. Its purpose is the identification of the company for tax and related matters. It consists of 10 digits. This is required for CIS repayment claims.
Tax amount
You have to provide the amount of tax you overpaid for a CIS repayment claim.Deduction from Taxes:
If you wish, you can claim repayment of deductions from CIS from your taxes, you need to tell HMRC the amounts you owe or will owe. Following are the taxes from which your CIS repayments can be deducted and the documents you need to do so.Corporation tax:
You have to include your corporation tax unique taxpayer reference.VAT
In this case, your VAT registration number will be included.Additional information:
Additional documents for information are only needed in case your CIS repayment claim is for the current year. You’ll have to submit all your bank statements and Payment and Deductions statements. For submission to the agent or any other representative, your claim is to be submitted with a signed authority or form R 38. If your details do not match your records, HMRC might request for additional information.Claiming a CIS tax repayment
To claim a CIS tax repayment, you have to follow either of these procedures depending on your status.Self Employment:
Here are the steps for filing the claim:- Firstly, register for Self Assessment if you have not done that till now.
- Next, get your tax deduction statements from the contractor.
- Your expenses should be kept track of. Some of the expenses include tools, kits, PPE, mileage, etc.
- File your tax return with Self Assessment. Include your income, tax deductions and allowable expenses.
- Make a submission to HMRC and wait for their response.
Limited Companies:
You can be either of two situations described here as a limited company.
Gross Payment status:
This means that your contractor has paid you the complete amount. They have not deducted the tax. You have to declare it on your corporation tax return.
Tax Deducted:
Don’t claim CIS refund on your corporation tax return. It may lead to a penalty. Instead do the following:
Send FPS:
FPS stands for full payment summary. This is your regular monthly payroll report to HMRC. It contains complete details of who you paid( the employees and directors) and the tax and National Insurance due.
Send EPS:
The EPS or Employer Payment Summary tells HMRC that you have CIS tax deducted. This also includes the total CIS deductions that have happened this year.
Partnership:
To claim CIS refund:
- Declare income tax and deductions.
- File the tax return. One of the partners, the designated one, can do it on behalf of the partnership.
How to claim
You can claim CIS repayment in either of the following ways:
1. Online claim
You can claim CIS repayment online using your government gateway account. Sign in with your user ID and password. If you don’t have this, you can create one.
2. Claim by post
You can also claim CIS repayment by post. You can write a request to HMRC using the required documents. Mark it as CIS. Send your claim to this address.
PT Operations North East England
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1BX
United Kingdom
How does the HMRC pay
The HMRC, as described earlier, uses the amount they owe you to pay other taxes of your company (say VAT, PAYE). They can also pay late tax penalties with this amount. This repayment appears as confirmation on your company’s tax system. The rest of the amount (if any) is refunded to you in the following ways:
- It can be returned to you as payable order on the address of your company.
- It can also be returned to the payment card that was used to pay originally.
Payment of Interest
HMRC pays you interest on your tax in the following cases:
You paid tax early:
If you have paid tax early, HMRC pays you interest up to the deadline of the filing returns. They only start adding interest from 6 months and 13 days after the start of your accounting period.
You paid more than you owe
In this case HMRC will pay interest from the date the tax was due.
Amendments of claim
If you do not include your full information, you can amend your CIS refund claim. You can do this through online form or by post. You should mark this claim as ‘revised claim’. Mention the entire amount that you are claiming and your original claim.
For filing accurate claims, contact Sterling Cooper Consultants. Our taxation services will make sure that you add all the relevant documents. We make sure that the process is smooth and efficient.
Don’t wait up on making your claim.
Each passing day it gets more difficult. The time to do it is now. Contact us to avail premium tax repayment claims services.
FAQs
Yes, you can claim in-year. This happens when your employment is complete and your affairs are up to date. You have to complete the CIS40 form in this case.
HMRC calculates interest after they know your final bill. They start calculating interest from the first installment date. They can also start from the date your balance goes over what you owe.
Yes, you can do this. You just have to open the return you have to resubmit and just click the ‘resubmit to HMRC’ option.
If you don’t have them, include the reason you don't have all of your statements in addition to all the other required documents.
It can take up to 4-8 weeks after submission. It can take longer if HMRC needs any verification or clarification.
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