20%
Withheld from every payment
HMRC requires contractors to deduct 20% from a verified subcontractor's pay. It's an advance against tax you may not owe that much of.
Source: gov.uk, Construction Industry Scheme (opens in a new tab)CIS · subcontractors & contractorsWaitlist — Join the waitlist — we open seats in batches
CIS accounting software for subcontractors.
You've probably overpaid HMRC. Here's how much. HMRC withholds 20% from every payment to a registered subcontractor, whether or not that's what you owe. Snap a photo of your Payment and Deduction Statements as they arrive. We keep a running deductions register for you. You get an estimate of your Self Assessment refund. It's never a promise. It's always an estimate, until it matches your SA302.
PDS capture and the deductions register are in development. The refund estimate below runs on the same engine today.
BUILT FORCIS subcontractorsSelf-employed builders & tradespeopleContractors verifying subcontractors
Wired into
HMRC Self Assessment · SA103S box 38HMRC CIS300 · contractor returnsCamera · PDS captureOpen Banking · read-onlyHOW IT WORKS
From connected to filed, in four moves.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything this plan files, keeps and tells you.
Files for you
Your CIS obligations, without a separate payroll tool.
- SA100 with box 38 filledThe CIS deducted from your pay, claimed back through your Self Assessment.
- Monthly CIS300Contractors: we file your return, no separate payroll tool needed.
- Subcontractor verificationCheck a subcontractor's CIS status with HMRC before the first payment.
- Payment and Deduction Statements to your subcontractors
Keeps for you
Every statement and every deduction, tracked against your bank.
- Every Payment and Deduction StatementYou photograph it the moment a contractor hands it over.
- Gross vs net, per jobWe track the 20% or 30% withheld against what actually lands in your bank.
Tells you
Always called an estimate, until the return is filed.
- A running refund estimateLabelled an estimate, from incomplete data, until it matches your SA302. Never a promise.
THE COST OF DOING NOTHING
What CIS costs you, before you file anything.
30%
If you're not verified
Not verified with HMRC yet? Contractors must deduct 30% instead of 20% until your status is confirmed.
Source: gov.uk, Construction Industry Scheme (opens in a new tab)£100
One day late filing
You still need a Self Assessment to reclaim CIS deductions. Miss the 31 January deadline and HMRC charges £100, even if no tax is owed.
Source: gov.uk, Self Assessment penalties (opens in a new tab)31 Jan
The deadline that starts the clock
Online Self Assessment returns are due by 31 January after the tax year ends. Every penalty above counts from that date.
Source: gov.uk, Self Assessment deadlines (opens in a new tab)A trades app and a refund agent, or one subscription that files both.
Trade apps track your jobs. Refund agents claim your CIS deductions back for a cut of the money. Neither files your monthly CIS300.
| Row | Trade app + refund agent | A bookkeeper | ac-co |
|---|---|---|---|
| FeeJob-tracking cost is from Tradeyuk's own pricing. Refund fee is from RIFT's own fee page. | £20/mo (job tracking) + £354 from your refund (no-refund-no-fee) [RIFT Tax Refunds — fees, 2026-09-13] | Their own rate card. Check it before you commit. | £99 fixed, or £129 taken from the refund |
| Fee is a fixed amount, not a cut of your refund. | No | Depends on their terms. | Yes |
| Runs a deductions register from your PDS photos. | Some do. | No | Yes |
| Files your monthly CIS300 as a contractor. | No | If you ask them to. | Yes |
| Verifies subcontractors with HMRC before you pay them. | No | No | Yes |
Tradeyuk pricing (https://tradeyuk.com/) and RIFT's fee page (https://www.riftrefunds.co.uk/prices/) were both read on 2026-09-13. Check either for the current figure.
No sign-up — try it right here
See what you might be owed — before you sign up.
An estimate from the figures you enter — not a tax calculation. Your real refund comes from your filed Self Assessment return.
SWITCHING
What moves across, and what it costs.
From Spreadsheet
What moves
- ✓Nothing to import
Cost — FreeEffort — We do it with you. Start from your next PDS.
From Accountant
What moves
- ✓Your prior year's SA302, if you have it. We check the deductions register against it.
Cost — FreeEffort — We do it with you.
Your accountant can keep reviewing inside the same workspace before anything files.
OBJECTIONS
Before you buy.
I take photos in a van, will it read them?
Yes. The camera is the main button, not a menu. This is built to read a crooked, sun-glared photo of a Payment and Deduction Statement. It doesn't need a scanned PDF.
What if a contractor's statement is wrong?
The register checks each deduction against the gross pay it's calculated from. A mismatch gets flagged. You catch it before it goes into your Self Assessment. That's before HMRC queries it, not after.
Do I have to be VAT-registered?
No. CIS and VAT registration are separate things. Most subcontractors are below the £90,000 threshold and aren't VAT-registered. CIS deductions work the same either way.
What about domestic reverse charge?
Once you're VAT-registered, invoices between CIS-registered businesses need reverse-charge VAT wording. The contractor plan adds that wording on its own. You don't have to remember it in a template.
I only want the refund, not a subscription.
That's the Free plan. It's a fixed £99 CIS refund (or £129 taken from the refund itself). No subscription required. The Subbie plan only makes sense once you're filing every year.
Waitlist — Join the waitlist — we open seats in batches