What you must do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) subcontractor

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How to register

To register for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) you’ll need:

  • your legal business name - you can also give a trading name if it’s different to your business name
  • the Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) for your business
  • your VAT registration number (if you’re VAT registered) 
  • the date you started trading

Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to provide your:

  • National Insurance number
  • Company Registration Number
  • Registering partner’s details – including UTR and National Insurance number
  • Joint Venture Agreement

If you’re a subcontractor and a CIS contractor (you pay subcontractors to do construction work), you’ll need to register for CIS as both.

You could be fined if you provide false information and so could anyone who helps you to make a false registration.

Register online

The quickest way to register is online.

To use the online service, you need a:

  • UTR
  • Government Gateway user ID and password

If you do not have a UTR, register as a new business for Self Assessment and choose ‘working as a subcontractor’ when prompted. You’ll be registered for Self Assessment and CIS at the same time.

If you do not have a Government Gateway user ID, you can create one when you use the service.

If you’re an agent, use the Government Gateway user ID you use to sign in to your agent services account.

Start now

Register by post

If you cannot register online, you can send a postal form.

Fill in the form below that applies to you:

Send your completed form to:

PT Operations North East England
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1BX

If you’re based abroad

You should still register for CIS if you are a subcontractor based abroad but do construction work in the UK.

Sign up for webinars and emails

You can sign up for webinars and emails about CIS.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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