Register online on GOV.UK by 5 October after the tax year you start. A self-employed electrician earning over £1,000 a year must register, including sparkies whose side work sits alongside a payroll job (GOV.UK, October 2026).
GOV.UK says you register as a sole trader by registering for Self Assessment. HMRC then gives you a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), and you send a tax return for each year. This page follows GOV.UK as checked on 18 October 2026.
Want your books sorted?
We sort your books and prepare your quarterly figures. You send them to HMRC yourself with free Making Tax Digital software.
Founding offer on Trades Tax (coming later), first 500 trades clients: £5 a month for your first 3 months, then £35 a month. Cancel any time. We’ll remind you before it changes. Prices include VAT. No payment is taken while you wait.
Are you ready for Making Tax Digital? Check your start date and what to sort first. It’s free and takes a minute.
When an electrician has to register
| Your situation | What you register |
|---|---|
| Self-employed, earning more than £1,000 in a tax year before expenses | Self Assessment, as a sole trader |
| Paid by electrical or building contractors for installation work | Self Assessment and CIS together, by choosing "working as a subcontractor" |
| Employed on PAYE, plus your own jobs over £1,000 a year | Self Assessment for the side work; your wages also go on the return |
| Already doing a return for something else, such as rent | Register again as a sole trader |
| Registered before but no return was needed for 2024-25 | You may need to reactivate your account instead |
GOV.UK says you must tell HMRC by 5 October if you need to send a return for the previous tax year and have not sent one before. For 2025-26 that was 5 October 2026. If you start during 2026-27, it is 5 October 2027.
GOV.UK also says you must register as a sole trader if you need to register as a CIS subcontractor, so the £1,000 figure does not decide it on its own.
Where CIS fits for electricians
Not every electrician needs CIS. CIS 340, HMRC's guide to the scheme, counts installing systems of lighting and power supply in a building as construction work. So a full rewire, or wiring a new building, for a main contractor or an electrical firm is inside CIS, and the contractor takes a deduction from the labour part of your invoice. HMRC's CIS manual says repairs and extensions to a system, such as wiring extra sockets, are outside it on their own.
Work a homeowner pays you for directly is outside it. CIS 340 says private householders are not contractors. A consumer unit change for a homeowner, paid by them, has no CIS deduction. It is still self-employed income and goes on your return. Our guide does CIS apply to electricians covers repairs, testing and other edge cases.
If you will work for contractors, choose "working as a subcontractor" when you register. GOV.UK says that registers you for Self Assessment and CIS at the same time. If you are registered and the contractor can verify you, they deduct 20%. If not, they deduct 30%. More detail is in how to register for CIS as an electrician.
Steps to register
- Check you are self-employed for this work, not an employee of the firm.
- Find your National Insurance number. GOV.UK says you need it to register.
- Go to GOV.UK's "Check how to register for Self Assessment" page and say you are self-employed.
- If you have no UTR yet, choose "working as a subcontractor" if any contractor will pay you for installation work.
- Answer the questions about you and your business, including when you started trading, then submit.
- Wait for your UTR. GOV.UK says it will be in your personal tax account within 72 hours if you register online. By post it usually takes 15 working days.
- Give each contractor the exact name you registered with, your UTR and your National Insurance number. GOV.UK says contractors need all three to verify a sole trader, and the details must match your registration exactly.
- Keep records of every job, including cash work, from the start.
- Send your first return online by 31 January after the tax year ends, and pay what you owe by then.
What this means for you
Registering is also the first step for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD). GOV.UK says you can only sign up for MTD if you are registered for Self Assessment and have sent a return in the last 2 years.
The MTD test adds up your self-employed and rental income before expenses. Your PAYE wages do not count. For CIS work, in our reading the gross amount before deductions counts, as that is the turnover on your return. If the total on your 2025-26 return is over £30,000, MTD starts for you on 6 April 2027. If it was over £50,000 on your 2024-25 return, it should already have started on 6 April 2026.
Use the free MTD check to see when it applies to you, and the trades section for guides on tax as a self-employed electrician.
A worked example
Priya is employed as an electrician on PAYE. From May 2025 she also takes evening jobs for homeowners, earning £4,500 in 2025-26 before costs. She registers online as a sole trader in September 2025, choosing the self-employed route without CIS, because no contractor pays her. Her UTR is in her personal tax account within 72 hours.
She files her 2025-26 return by 31 January 2027, showing the £4,500 and her costs. Her wages go on the Employment page too, with the tax already taken through PAYE. As her self-employed income is well under £30,000, MTD does not start for her in April 2027.
Hold your place on the trades waitlist
We’ll email you when Trades Tax opens, with the founding offer while places last. No payment is taken.
Questions people ask
I am employed as an electrician and do jobs for cash at weekends. Do I need to register?
If the side work brings in more than £1,000 in a tax year before expenses, yes. GOV.UK says you must register as a sole trader above that. Tax on your wages is still taken through PAYE. Your return shows the self-employed work, and HMRC's notes say your PAYE job goes on its Employment page too.
Does CIS apply to my work?
It depends who pays you. Installing lighting or power systems for a contractor is construction work under CIS 340. Work paid for directly by a homeowner is not, because CIS 340 says private householders are not contractors. Our guide on whether CIS applies to electricians goes through the edge cases.
I will work for an electrical contractor and homeowners. What do I pick when I register?
Choose 'working as a subcontractor' when the Self Assessment registration asks. GOV.UK says that registers you for Self Assessment and CIS together if you have no UTR yet. The homeowner work goes on the same tax return.
I started in 2025-26 and missed 5 October 2026. What now?
Register straight away. GOV.UK says you could get a penalty if you tell HMRC after 5 October 2026. HMRC gives you 3 months from the date of its letter or email to file the 2025-26 return, but the tax is still due by 31 January 2027.
Is Self Assessment the same as joining a competent person scheme?
No. GOV.UK says a competent person scheme lets an installer self-certify certain building work, such as electrical installations in homes, instead of getting building regulations approval. Joining one is a choice, not a tax step. Self Assessment is your tax registration with HMRC, and you do it separately.
Sources
- Check how to register for Self Assessment (GOV.UK)
- Become a sole trader: Register as a sole trader (GOV.UK)
- Self Assessment tax returns: Who must send a tax return (GOV.UK)
- What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: How to register (GOV.UK)
- Construction Industry Scheme: a guide for contractors and subcontractors, CIS 340, sections 1.2 and 2.3 and Appendix A (GOV.UK)
- Self Assessment tax returns: Deadlines (GOV.UK)
- Find your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) (GOV.UK)
- Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- CISR14090: construction operations: building service systems (HMRC manual)
- Self Assessment: Employment (SA102) notes 2026 (GOV.UK)
- Competent person scheme: current schemes and how schemes are authorised (GOV.UK)
- What you must do as a CIS contractor: Verify subcontractors (GOV.UK)
This is general information to help you understand the rules. It isn't tailored to your circumstances, so check your own position before acting on it.
Righto Tax is a trading name of NJG Consultancy Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16095900. Registered office: Jubilee House, East Beach, Lytham St Annes, FY8 5FT.
What happens next
- Use the free Making Tax Digital checker to see your own start date and deadlines.
- See what Righto Tax for Trades does for you, and join the waitlist.
- Questions about this page? Email hello@rightotax.co.uk.