What you must do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) contractor
Verify subcontractors
Before you can pay a new subcontractor, you’ll need to ‘verify’ them with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
HMRC will tell you:
- whether they’re registered for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)
- what rate of deduction to use or if you can pay them without making deductions
You must also verify subcontractors you’ve used before if you have not included them on a CIS return in the current or last 2 tax years.
How to verify
You can verify subcontractors using:
If you need to verify more than 50 subcontractors you’ll need to use commercial CIS software.
What you’ll need
Make sure you have:
- your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
- the reference number for your HMRC accounts office
- your HMRC employer reference
You’ll also need your subcontractor’s:
- UTR
- National Insurance number if they’re a sole trader - you cannot verify temporary numbers, which start with ‘TN’ or 2 digits
- company name, company UTR and registration number if they’re a limited company
- nominated partner details, trading name and partnership UTR if they’re a partnership
The details you provide to verify the subcontractor must exactly match the details the subcontractor used to register with HMRC.