What is the difference between CIS deducted and CIS suffered?

They are the same money from two sides. The contractor deducts it; you, the subcontractor, suffer it. On 2025-26 tax returns, a sole trader enters the year's total in box 38 (short pages) or box 81 (full pages).

Under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), a contractor takes a deduction from your pay and sends it to HMRC as an advance payment towards your tax and National Insurance. The words around that deduction change depending on who is writing. This guide follows GOV.UK's CIS guidance, HMRC's CIS 340 guide, the 2026 self-employment pages (SA103S and SA103F) and their notes, all checked on 17 October 2026.

The terms you will see

"Deducted" is the contractor's word, because the contractor makes the deduction. "Suffered" is the word for the business that bore it. GOV.UK's EPS guidance asks a limited company for "the total amount of CIS deductions suffered year to date". The money is the same either way.

A CIS statement is not a payslip. CIS 340 says CIS payments and deductions must not go on the employment pages (SA102), because they are not earnings from a contract of employment. They belong on the self-employment pages.

How the deduction is worked out

GOV.UK says the contractor starts from your invoice total, takes off VAT and what you paid for materials, consumables, fuel other than for travelling and hired plant, then deducts the rate HMRC gave: 20% if you are registered, 30% if not, nothing with gross payment status.

Say you invoice £2,500 plus VAT: £2,000 labour and £500 of materials you bought. At 20%, £400 is deducted from the £2,000. Your statement shows £2,500 gross, £500 materials and £400 deducted. That £400 is "CIS deducted" on the contractor's paperwork and "CIS suffered" in yours.

Where a sole trader's deductions go

The 2026 self-employment pages, which cover the tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, have one box for this, worded "Total Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions taken from your payments by contractors – CIS subcontractors only".

HMRC's notes add three points. Add up the deductions from your contractors' statements, and do not send the statements in. Put the full year's deductions in the box even if you have already had a CIS repayment, and show that repayment in box 1, "Tax refunded or set off", on page TR 6. And if you fill in the CIS box, check your turnover is the full amount before CIS was taken off.

If you are in Making Tax Digital, HMRC adds your CIS deductions to your MTD tax return, and any refund is requested separately through HMRC online services.

If you are both subcontractor and contractor

Many sole traders are paid under CIS and also pay a labourer or another trade. CIS 340 says that when you work as a contractor you follow the contractor rules, and when you work as a subcontractor you follow the subcontractor rules. The two sets of deductions never mix.

Say a builder pays you £3,000 for labour and deducts £600 at 20%. You then pay a self-employed labourer £1,000 and, at the 20% HMRC gives you, deduct £200. The £600 goes in your CIS box. The £200 is the labourer's tax, so you pay it over and it stays off your return.

Setting deductions suffered against what you owe as a contractor each month is a limited company route, made through the EPS. As a sole trader, GOV.UK says your deductions are dealt with in your Self Assessment tax return.

What this means for you

When you add up a year's statements, you want two totals: gross pay and CIS suffered. Gross pay is turnover; CIS suffered goes in the CIS box. Mixing in deductions you made from your own subcontractors, or entering your pay after CIS as turnover, gives HMRC figures that do not match your contractors' monthly returns. Before you join Making Tax Digital, over-deducted CIS is claimed back through your Self Assessment tax return. The sooner after 5 April you file, the sooner HMRC can repay you.

Steps to get your CIS figures right

1. Collect a payment and deduction statement for every tax month you were paid under CIS, from 6 April to 5 April.
2. Add up the gross amounts paid. This is your turnover from CIS work, alongside any other business income.
3. Add up the amounts deducted from you. This is your CIS suffered for the year.
4. If you are also a contractor, keep the deductions you made from others separate. They belong on your monthly returns.
5. Enter turnover and CIS suffered in the right boxes, and note any CIS repayment you have already had.

Our guide to the payment and deduction statement shows what each line means, and claiming a CIS refund as a sole trader covers the return itself. If you run a company, read how a limited company claims back CIS. The free MTD check shows when Making Tax Digital starts for you, and the trades section has more on CIS.