CIS and the domestic reverse charge

If you subcontract to another builder, they withhold CIS from your labour and pay it to HMRC on your behalf. It happens whether or not your invoice shows it. An invoice that does not show it is one you will end up explaining on the phone.

CIS comes off the labour only

CIS applies to labour, never to materials. That is why labour and materials go on separate lines — the deduction is worked out from the labour lines on the invoice, so the split has to be there first.

Steps

1. Split the invoice into labour and materials lines.
2. Set the CIS deduction on the invoice.

The invoice shows the full value, the deduction, and what is actually payable to you.

What this changes about getting paid

The amount due is the total minus the deduction. The card payment link charges the reduced figure, not the full one.

That matters: without it, the pay link would collect money the contractor is legally required to withhold, and you would be handing it back.

The domestic reverse charge

When the reverse charge applies, you do not charge VAT — the contractor accounts for it instead. Set it on the invoice and the VAT comes off, with the wording HMRC requires printed on the customer's copy.

What we don't do

Contractor-side monthly CIS returns, HMRC verification calls and subcontractor lists are not here and are not planned. This is a tax treatment on an invoice, so you can bill correctly. It is not a payroll system.