CIS Invoice Template (UK): How to Invoice as a CIS Subcontractor

If you work for a building contractor as a subcontractor, your invoice is where the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) starts. The contractor takes a CIS deduction from what you invoice and pays it to HMRC for you, as an advance payment towards your tax and National Insurance. Get the invoice right and the deduction is right; get it wrong and you either lose cash every month or end up arguing about it at the end of the job.

This page shows what a CIS invoice should look like, how the deduction is worked out, and which parts of your invoice are never deducted. There is a worked example you can copy, and the Invoice Maker on this site does the same calculation for you.

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Start straight away, no account needed. The Invoice Maker does the CIS maths for you. A free account keeps your invoices and lets you download, email and print them: 5 invoices a month.

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Worked example

INVOICE INV-001Registered subcontractor, 20%

Description	Type	Qty	Rate	Net
Second fix carpentry, Plot 12 (4 days)	Labour	4	£300.00	£1,200.00
Timber, fixings and adhesive (receipts attached)	Materials	1	£350.00	£350.00

Labour£1,200.00

Materials£350.00

Subtotal£1,550.00

CIS deduction 20% on labour (£1,200.00)-£240.00

Amount due£1,310.00

Not VAT registered, so no VAT is shown. If the subcontractor were not registered for CIS, the deduction would be 30% of £1,200, which is £360, and the amount due would be £1,190. With gross payment status there is no deduction.

The three CIS rates

HMRC tells the contractor which rate to use when the contractor verifies you. There are only three:

20% if you are registered for CIS as a subcontractor (HMRC calls this net payment status)
30% if you are not registered for CIS
0% if HMRC has given you gross payment status, so no deduction is taken at all

Registering is free and takes the rate from 30% down to 20%, so it is worth doing before your first job. The deduction is not an extra tax: it is money already paid towards your own tax bill, and you claim it back through your Self Assessment tax return.

The deduction is worked out on labour only

This is the part most people get wrong. According to HMRC, the contractor starts with the gross amount on your invoice and first takes away what you paid for yourself for the job:

VAT
materials, but only if you paid for them directly
equipment hired for this job (plant hire)
fuel used, except for travelling
consumable stores, meaning equipment that is now unusable
manufacturing or prefabricating materials

Only what is left, which is your labour, gets the 20% or 30% deduction. In the example above, £1,550 goes in, the £350 of materials comes out, and the deduction is 20% of £1,200.

That is why a good CIS invoice lists labour and materials on separate lines. If everything is on one line, the contractor has nothing to go on and may deduct from the whole amount. HMRC also lets the contractor ask for evidence, such as receipts, that you bought the materials yourself, and if you cannot show any, the contractor has to estimate their cost. Keep the receipts and say on the invoice that they are available.

What to put on a CIS invoice

A CIS invoice is a normal invoice with a few extra details. Every UK invoice needs:

a unique invoice number, in sequence
your name (and any business name you use), address and contact details
the contractor’s company name and address
a clear description of the work, with the site or plot
the date the work was done and the date of the invoice
the amount for each line, and the total owed

For CIS, add a labour line and a materials line (and plant hire or other costs you paid for, on their own lines), the CIS rate you expect, the deduction and the amount due. It also helps to include your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), because the contractor needs it to verify you, and the contractor’s own reference or purchase order number so the invoice goes straight through their system.

If you are also VAT registered

If your turnover goes over the VAT registration threshold (£90,000 in any 12 months, the figure on GOV.UK in September 2026) you must register for VAT. For most construction work between VAT-registered businesses that report under CIS, the VAT domestic reverse charge then applies: you show the VAT on the invoice but do not add it to the amount due, and the contractor pays it to HMRC instead of you.

The CIS deduction is never taken from VAT. It is still worked out on labour, before VAT. Our reverse charge invoice template walks through a full example with CIS and VAT together.

After you are paid: the payment and deduction statement

When a contractor takes a deduction, they must give you a CIS payment and deduction statement within 14 days of the end of each tax month. Tax months run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next, so for the tax month 6 May to 5 June the statement is due by 19 June.

Keep every statement. At the end of the tax year you add up the deductions and enter them in your Self Assessment return, where they are set against your tax and National Insurance. If more was deducted than you owe, HMRC repays the difference. Matching each statement to your own invoice is the quickest way to spot a deduction taken on materials by mistake.

How the Invoice Maker handles CIS

Choose Construction as your trade and set your CIS rate once in your profile (20%, 30% or gross). Each line on the invoice is marked Labour or Materials, and the deduction is worked out on the labour lines only, exactly as in the example above. There is a tick box on each invoice to turn the deduction off, for example when you work directly for a homeowner, who is not a contractor under CIS.

When the contractor pays, mark the invoice as paid and the full amount before the deduction goes into your monthly income records, ready for your Self Assessment return.

Frequently asked questions

Do I deduct CIS myself on the invoice?

The contractor makes the deduction and pays it to HMRC. Showing it on your invoice is good practice, because both of you can see the amount you expect to receive, but the contractor uses the rate HMRC gives them when they verify you.

Is CIS taken from materials?

No. HMRC’s guidance tells contractors to take away VAT, materials you paid for directly, plant hire, fuel (except for travel) and consumables before applying the CIS rate. Only the labour part is deducted.

What if I am not registered for CIS?

The contractor must deduct 30% instead of 20%. Registering as a subcontractor with HMRC brings the rate down to 20%.

How do I get the CIS deductions back?

Through your Self Assessment tax return. The deductions count as tax already paid, and if they add up to more than you owe, HMRC repays the difference.

Do I need an account to use the template?

No. You can start the invoice on the Invoice Maker page straight away. To download it as a PDF, email it or keep it, you create a free TaxEase UK account, which includes 5 invoices a month.