How do I claim a CIS refund as a landscaper?

You claim it back after the tax year ends on 5 April. For 2026-27, sole trader landscapers can file their return from 6 April 2027. Under Making Tax Digital, the refund is requested separately through HMRC online services.

Under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), what a contractor takes off your pay is an advance payment towards your Income Tax and National Insurance. It is usually 20% of the labour part of your invoice if you are registered, or 30% if you are not. For a landscaper, the deduction usually comes from hard landscaping for builders and developers, while garden rounds for householders have none. Over-deducted CIS is claimed back through your tax return. The sooner after 5 April you file, the sooner HMRC can repay you. This page is for sole traders and follows GOV.UK as checked on 18 October 2026. A limited company uses its deductions through its payroll instead, as our guide on whether a limited company can claim back CIS deductions explains.

Which route applies to you

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) started on 6 April 2026 for sole traders whose 2024-25 return showed self-employed and rental income over £50,000 before costs. It starts on 6 April 2027 if the 2025-26 return shows over £30,000. For CIS work, in our reading the gross pay before deductions is what counts, because that is the turnover on your return.

Which landscaping jobs have a deduction

Watch mixed contracts. CIS 340 says if a contract includes some CIS work, every payment under it comes within the scheme, even on separate invoices.

A worked example for a landscaper

Tom is a self-employed landscaper outside Scotland with no other income. In 2026-27 a developer pays him £30,000 for patios, garden walls and drives on a new estate: £20,000 labour, £6,000 for slabs, blocks and aggregate he bought, and £4,000 for a self-drive mini digger he hired from a plant hire firm, with its fuel. The developer treats the hire as materials and takes 20% of the labour only, which is £4,000. Tom also earns £9,000 maintaining gardens for householders. His van, trailer, mowers, tools, insurance and phone cost £5,500.

Had the developer not taken the digger hire off first, it would have deducted £4,800. The extra £800 would come back too, but only after the year ends. A digger Tom owned would not come off, even on hire purchase, though its fuel could. These are 2026-27 rates. Class 2 National Insurance is treated as paid because his profit is above £7,105. This is an example only.

Steps to claim your CIS refund

1. Collect every payment and deduction statement for the tax year, 6 April to 5 April. A contractor who takes a deduction must give you one within 14 days of the end of that tax month, so the last one for 2026-27 is due by 19 April 2027.
2. Ask for copies of any missing statements. If a contractor has closed, write to HMRC with your details, the contractor's details, the dates you were paid and why you have no statements.
3. Check each statement against your bank account, and that materials and hired plant were taken off before the deduction.
4. Match plant hire and merchant receipts to each CIS job, and total your householder income, including cash jobs.
5. If you are not in MTD for the year, put your total turnover and your CIS deductions on your Self Assessment return, give your bank details and file online.
6. If you are in MTD, check the CIS deductions HMRC has added to your MTD tax return, correct them in your software if needed, submit, then request the refund through your HMRC online services account.

What this means for you

Tom's 2025-26 return showed £27,000 and his 2024-25 return was lower, so MTD does not start for him in April 2027. It starts on 6 April 2028 only if his 2026-27 qualifying income is over £20,000. His £39,000 is over that, so he joins then. He claims this refund in an ordinary Self Assessment return.

Your deductions sit with HMRC until your return is in. The deadline for a 2026-27 return is 31 January 2028, so filing in April 2027 instead puts your claim in up to ten months sooner. Showing materials and hired plant as separate lines on every invoice, with receipts to hand, helps the contractor keep the deduction to your labour.

Be wary of anyone who promises a refund by a set date. Only HMRC decides when it pays.

If something looks wrong

• A contractor took 30%. If you are registered but the contractor could not verify you, it takes 30%. GOV.UK says to speak to your contractor if you think the figures are wrong. The extra still counts towards your tax on the return.
• HMRC's figures differ from your statements. Check with the contractor first. Our guide on checking your CIS deductions with HMRC sets out each route.

Use the free MTD check to see when MTD starts for you, and the trades section for more on CIS for landscaping and gardening.