Yes. Managed services and accountants can keep your books, match CIS statements and send your MTD updates and tax return. Unless you are exempt, you start on 6 April 2027 if your 2025-26 income before costs was over £30,000.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD) means digital records, four quarterly updates a year and a tax return. For a builder on the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), the books must also show pay before each deduction and the deduction itself. This page follows GOV.UK as checked on 19 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.
What it has to handle for a builder
| The job | What GOV.UK says | Ask the service |
|---|---|---|
| CIS statements | Each contractor that takes a deduction must give you a statement within 14 days of the end of each tax month. With gross payment status, nothing is deducted | Will you match each one to my bank? |
| Materials | Contractors take no deduction from materials you paid for directly. They may ask for receipts, and estimate the cost if you have none | Can I send photos of receipts? |
| Quarterly updates and tax return | Updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Only a main agent can send your tax return | Will you be my main agent? |
| CIS refund | Once you are in MTD, HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services | Is the refund request included? |
| VAT returns | Most standard or reduced rate work reported within CIS, for a customer registered for VAT and CIS, uses the domestic reverse charge, but not work for a private homeowner, or for a customer who tells you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier. Employment businesses supplying workers never use it | Are VAT returns included? |
| Your own subcontractors | If you pay them, you are a contractor too, with a monthly return due by the 19th after each tax month ends | Are contractor returns included, or extra? |
Before you join MTD, over-deducted CIS is claimed back through your Self Assessment tax return.
Examples listed on 19 October 2026
These are examples, not a recommendation or a full list, checked on each provider's own website on 19 October 2026, with VAT as the provider shows it. "Not mentioned" means the page we checked did not mention it.
| Provider and plan | What is listed | CIS on the page | Listed price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Comply | Software, sign-up, quarterly updates and tax return, for people happy to keep their own records | Aimed at construction workers among others | From £49 + VAT, presented as a fixed monthly fee |
| Gorilla Accounting MTD Complete | As above, plus full dedicated accountant support, year-end accounts and VAT returns | Support with CIS returns for up to 2 subcontractors | From £79 + VAT |
| Mazuma Basic, sole trader | Monthly bookkeeping, one tax return and acting as your agent, up to 20 transactions a month | Not mentioned | £38 a month + VAT; VAT returns £20 a month + VAT extra |
| GoForma Start + MTD | Self Assessment, quarterly MTD submissions and tax return, with FreeAgent | Not mentioned | £68 a month, VAT not stated |
| Taxfix MTD Full Support | Bookkeeping, quarterly filings and tax return; you review and sign off | Not mentioned | £39.99 a month including VAT, first 3 months free |
| Pie MTD Package | Sign-up, four quarterly updates and the tax return, paid yearly | Not mentioned | £199 a year, VAT not stated |
| Our Trades Tax | Books kept from your bank feed; you confirm every figure. Coming later. Not available yet: starts once our HMRC registrations are complete | CIS deductions matched to your statements; no contractor returns | £35 a month or £350 a year, including VAT |
On our plan, CIS deductions are matched to your statements and counted in your tax return, with any refund requested from HMRC. VAT returns add £10 a month including VAT, on the monthly plan. It uses automated software, including AI, with the company's director accountable.
When another provider fits better
- You pay subcontractors. We don't do CIS contractor returns, so a firm whose package includes them is the better fit.
- You trade as a limited company or a partnership. We don't cover either.
- You want to start now. Our tax plans are not open yet.
- You want tax planning or a named accountant. A full accountancy firm offers more than bookkeeping and tax returns.
What to check before you choose
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| HMRC agent services account | HMRC is requiring, in stages, anyone paid to deal with it about someone else's tax to register for one |
| Money-laundering supervision | Ask who supervises them: HMRC or a professional body |
| Professional indemnity insurance | Ask whether they hold it |
| Your HMRC password | They should never ask for it |
| The price | Including VAT, after any offer ends, and whether the tax return, CIS refund request and VAT returns are in it |
What this means for you
Unless you are exempt, MTD has applied since 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income was over £50,000 in 2024-25, starts on 6 April 2027 if it was over £30,000 in 2025-26, and on 6 April 2028 if it was over £20,000 in 2026-27. Qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses, so in our reading, for CIS work that means before deductions.
If you start in April 2027, your first update covers 6 April to 5 July 2027 and is due by 7 August 2027. The government said at the Budget on 28 October 2026 that people who must join in April 2027 get no penalty points for late 2027-28 updates, which must still be sent; the earliest a late update can earn a point for them is 7 August 2028. Your 2025-26 return, due by 31 January 2027, sits outside MTD, so ask whether a service files that too.
Steps to choose a managed service
- Use the free MTD check to confirm your start date.
- List what you need: CIS statements, VAT returns, and any subcontractors you pay.
- Shortlist two or three providers and ask each the questions in the tables above.
- Compare the yearly price including VAT, and what it becomes after any offer ends.
- Accept their authorisation request through HMRC as your main agent. Never share your password.
- Send CIS statements and materials receipts as they arrive, and check each update has gone.
The cost of an accountant for builders and the trades section have more.
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
Will a managed service match my CIS statements?
Ask before you sign up. Each contractor that takes a deduction must give you a statement within 14 days of the end of each tax month. GOV.UK says your pay before deductions is income and the deductions are recorded separately, so each payment in your bank needs matching to its statement.
Who gets my CIS refund once I am in Making Tax Digital?
HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your MTD tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services. An agent who sends your tax return can request it through its agent services account. Agree in writing how any refund reaches you.
Does a managed MTD service file my CIS returns for the subcontractors I pay?
Check before you sign up. Those are monthly contractor returns, due by the 19th, and separate from MTD. Of the packages we checked on 19 October 2026, Gorilla Accounting's MTD Complete listed support with CIS returns, for up to 2 subcontractors.
Do they need my HMRC password?
No. HMRC's standard for agents says agents must never ask a client for their HMRC sign-in details. You accept their authorisation request through HMRC instead. We never ask for your HMRC password.
Can I use your service now?
Not yet. Our tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete. Until then you can join the waitlist, and no payment is taken.
Sources
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Submit your tax return (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Help and support (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Choose agents for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Check if and when you need to register with HMRC (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- The HMRC standard for agents (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Check if you need to register for money laundering supervision if you're an accountancy service provider (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: Get paid (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: Pay tax and claim back deductions (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- What you must do as a CIS contractor: File your monthly returns (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- VAT domestic reverse charge technical guide (GOV.UK, checked 19 October 2026)
- Gorilla Accounting: MTD packages (checked 19 October 2026)
- Mazuma: Pricing (checked 19 October 2026)
- GoForma: Packages (checked 19 October 2026)
- Taxfix: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Pie: Making Tax Digital (checked 19 October 2026)
- Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates (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.