Reclaiming CIS tax
If your company is registered under the construction industry scheme (CIS) as a sub-contractor, it will generally have CIS tax deducted from the payments it receives from large contractor companies. There are two ways to get your hands on this withheld CIS tax: as a credit against PAYE due, or reclaim it directly from HMRC.
Your first option should always be to off-set the CIS tax against your company’s PAYE liability. Make this claim on the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) each month, and the set-off should be dealt with by HMRC’s computer.
If you don’t pay enough PAYE to cover the CIS tax, you need to submit a repayment claim to HMRC. This can now be done online through an interactive form on gov.uk, or we can make the claim on your behalf.
You don’t have to send any supporting documents with the claim. If HMRC can’t match your claim to the CIS deductions reported by the contractors who withheld the tax, it may ask you for further information.
When that repayment is processed you can ask for the amount due to be set against your company’s other tax liabilities, such as VAT or Corporation Tax.
