Questions and Answers
How do I get a CIS tax refund for my company?
I own a small company in construction and some of our customers have been deducting Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) tax from our payments. How do I go about reclaiming this?
Last updated 20 Aug 2026 | First published 30 Jan 2020
By Helen Wood, CA 1 min read
Contractors
When a contractor pays your company ‘under deduction’ for construction work, it must give your company a statement showing the full amount of the payment and the deduction that it has made from that payment under the CIS rules.
You will need to enter these on your company's Employer Payment Summary (EPS) returns to HMRC for Real Time Information (RTI) payroll purposes. The CIS deductions made to your invoice payments by the contractor that engaged you will then be offset against your company’s PAYE and national insurance contributions (NICs) liabilities for the year to date.
If your company has had more CIS deductions than PAYE and national insurance contributions (NICs) is due, you will not be able to claim a CIS refund until:
- The final Full Payment Submission (FPS) for the year has been submitted (due by 5th April for the final pay date of the tax year, although you can send a corrected version up to 19th April each year)
- The final EPS for the year has been submitted (due by the 19th April following the tax year end)
- You Corporation Tax payments and returns are up to date
- The tax year in which the CIS deductions were made from the company has ended (5th April each year)
So, if you find your company has an excess of CIS deductions for the 2025/26 tax year then you can look to claim these back now.
If you are confident that you have all the right documentation and evidence together you can claim a CIS refund online or through the post here.
However, many companies find CIS refunds complex and time consuming. TaxAssist Accountants have many years of experience dealing with CIS and would be happy to manage your CIS affairs or any other of your accounting or tax needs.
To get in touch today, call us on 0151 355 5600 or complete our contact form here to arrange your free initial consultation.
Last updated 20 Aug 2026 | First published 30 Jan 2020
This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.
Helen Wood, CA
Helen is a qualified chartered accountant (CA) and joined TaxAssist in 2025 following three years as a freelance content writer for clients in the tax and accounting publishing sector. Prior to this, She spent 17 years at Big Four and Top 10 accountancy firms. Helen writes clear and helpful articles on tax and accounting for businesses and individuals.
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