How do I sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax as a plasterer?

Sign up on GOV.UK with your Self Assessment sign-in. If your plastering turnover before CIS deductions was over £30,000 in 2025-26, you start on 6 April 2027, unless it was over £50,000 in 2024-25: then you should already have started.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) works the same for a self-employed plasterer as for any sole trader. What trips plasterers up is the turnover figure: many work labour-only for builders under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), with a fifth or more taken off, alongside jobs paid by homeowners. This page follows GOV.UK's sign-up, MTD and CIS guidance, checked on 17 October 2026. The general sign-up guide covers the service for everyone.

Do you need to sign up, and for which year

HMRC tests your qualifying income: all your self-employment and property income before expenses, also called turnover, but not your share of a partnership's profit.

HMRC writes to people over the line, but GOV.UK says checking is still your responsibility.

Adding up a plasterer's turnover

The law behind CIS does not name plastering, and nor does HMRC's index of construction operations. It does cover the construction, alteration and repair of buildings, and work that renders that work complete. In our reading, plastering, dry lining and rendering a building fall there, rather than under "painting or decorating": HMRC's manual describes painting as applying a decorative or protective film to a surface. So, in our reading, plastering for a builder or another CIS contractor is CIS work. A homeowner paying you direct is not a contractor, as the homeowner CIS guide explains. For MTD, all of it counts.

VAT registered? If you leave VAT out of your income, as the cash basis allows, count invoices before VAT.

On labour-only work the deduction comes off the whole payment. CIS 340's example is £200 of work, £40 deducted at 20% and £160 paid. If you supply plaster and board, the builder takes their cost off first and works out the deduction on the rest, as the materials guide explains.

Take a plasterer with no other income, registered for CIS and under £50,000 in 2024-25. In 2025-26, a builder's monthly statements show £22,000 gross for labour-only work. The 20% deduction was £4,400, so £17,600 reached the bank. Homeowners paid £10,500. Bank receipts total £28,100, under £30,000. But qualifying income is £22,000 + £10,500 = £32,500, so MTD starts on 6 April 2027.

Had the plasterer not registered for CIS, the builder would have taken 30%, which is £6,600, leaving £15,400. Bank receipts would be £25,900. Qualifying income would still be £32,500. The turnover guide explains why the gross figure is used.

What the sign-up asks

You must be registered for Self Assessment and have sent a tax return in the last 2 years. GOV.UK then lists your business name (the name on your invoices), address and trade, your start date if you began in the last 2 tax years, the tax year you will start, and every self-employment and property source, including any that has stopped since your last tax return.

GOV.UK treats different trades as separate businesses. In our reading, CIS and domestic plastering are one trade, so one business.

You sign in with the user ID and password you got when you registered for Self Assessment. You may be asked to prove your identity with a phone app and your passport or driving licence. On 13 October 2026 GOV.UK removed the option to do this by answering questions.

What does not change your sign-up

• Being unregistered for CIS. A 30% deduction instead of 20% changes your cash, not your turnover. Registering for CIS is a separate step.
• A builder paying you a day rate. With no materials, a day rate is labour-only, so the deduction comes off all of it. Count the gross day rate.
• A limited company. This page is for sole traders. A company's income is not self-employment income.

What an agent can do

A bookkeeper or managed service with an HMRC agent services account can sign you up once you have authorised them. They need your full name, date of birth and National Insurance number, plus your business details. Only a main agent can submit your tax return. The agent guide shows how to accept a request.

What this means for you

If your turnover, plus any rent, was over £30,000 in 2025-26 but not over £50,000 in 2024-25, you start on 6 April 2027. Your first quarterly update is due by 7 August 2027. You can sign up now, for the current or next tax year.

GOV.UK says there are no penalties for late quarterly updates in 2026-27. The 28 October 2026 Budget said April 2027 joiners get none for 2027-28 updates either, though updates must still be sent, so the earliest possible point is 7 August 2028. After that, each missed deadline earns a point (not while volunteering), and 4 points brings a £200 penalty. HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your MTD tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services. If you were under £30,000, check 2026-27: over £20,000 means 6 April 2028.

Steps to sign up as a plasterer

1. Add up your 2025-26 income: gross figures from your CIS statements, homeowner jobs before any VAT you leave out, and any rent. The free MTD check shows your start date.
2. Check you are registered for Self Assessment and have filed a return in the last 2 years.
3. Choose MTD software that keeps CIS and non-CIS income apart, or someone to do it.
4. Have your business name, address, trade and any recent start date to hand.
5. Sign in to the GOV.UK sign-up service, add every business and property, and pick your start year.
6. Complete any identity check, or authorise your agent and let them sign you up.
7. Keep every monthly CIS statement and materials receipt to check the deductions HMRC adds to your tax return.

The trades section has more guides for plasterers.