CIS gross payment status checker
Check whether your business passes the turnover test for gross payment status, so main contractors pay you in full with nothing taken off. Free, no account, and nothing you type is stored or sent.
Your turnover test
- Turnover test
- Met
- You need at least £90,000.00
You meet the turnover test through the £30,000 per person figure, £90,000.00 in total.
| Figure | Needed | Reached |
|---|---|---|
| £30,000 for each of 3 directors and shareholders | £90,000.00 | Yes |
| £100,000 for the company | £100,000.00 | No |
Reaching either figure is enough.
The checker covers the standard test. HMRC has other ways through for a new partnership or company with signed contracts, a company owned only by companies already paid gross, a business taken over from someone else, and a business that does construction work alongside its main trade.
What gross payment status means for a CIS contractor
Many small building firms are paid as subbies by bigger contractors as well as paying subbies of their own. With gross payment status, the contractors who pay you take nothing off for CIS. You pay your tax at the end of the year instead, through your Self Assessment or Corporation Tax return.
It changes how you're paid, not what you do as a contractor: you still verify your own subbies, take their deductions and file your CIS return every month.
To get it, your business has to pass three tests: the business test, the turnover test and the compliance test.
The CIS turnover test
HMRC looks at your net construction turnover in the 12 months before you apply: what you were paid for construction work, less VAT and less the materials you bought for it. Plant hire and fuel for plant count as materials; travel doesn't.
- A sole trader needs at least £30,000.
- A partnership needs £30,000 for each partner, or £100,000, whichever is lower.
- A company needs £30,000 for each director, or £100,000, whichever is lower. If 5 or fewer people control the company, or its directors do, its shareholders count too, each person once.
If the number of partners or directors changed during the year, use the most you had at any one time.
| Business | Turnover | Needed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | £45,000.00 | £30,000.00 | Met |
| Company with 3 directors | £95,000.00 | £90,000.00 | Met |
| Partnership with 5 partners | £110,000.00 | £100,000.00 | Met |
| Company with 3 directors | £80,000.00 | £90,000.00 | £10,000.00 short |
With 3 directors, £30,000 each is £90,000.00, less than £100,000, so £90,000.00 is the figure. With 5 partners, £30,000 each would be £150,000.00, so the £100,000 figure applies instead. The second company, on £80,000.00, misses both and is £10,000.00 short.
The CIS business and compliance tests
For the business test, you need to show HMRC that your business:
- does construction work, or supplies labour for it, in the UK
- is run largely through a bank account
For the compliance test, everything due in the 12 months before you apply must have been done on time: your tax returns, CIS returns, VAT returns, and payments of tax, CIS deductions, PAYE, VAT and National Insurance. In a partnership, that goes for every partner. A company must also have filed its accounts and confirmation statements at Companies House on time, and HMRC can look at its directors' own records too, and its shareholders' if 5 or fewer people control it.
HMRC overlooks only these:
- up to 3 late CIS returns, if none was more than 28 days late
- up to 3 late VAT returns, if none was more than 28 days late
- up to 3 late payments of £100 or more for each of CIS deductions, PAYE and VAT, if none was more than 14 days late
- any late payment under £100
- a tax return filed no more than 28 days late
Anything else late, a CIS return still not filed when you apply, or any late National Insurance, and you fail, unless HMRC accepts you had a reasonable excuse. Late CIS returns also cost penalties: see the CIS penalty calculator and CIS late filing penalties.
Losing gross payment status
HMRC checks your record 6 months after you get gross payment status, then every year. If you fail, it writes to say the status goes in 90 days, and you have 30 days to appeal. Once it's gone, you wait a year to apply again.
Since 6 April 2026, if HMRC finds you knew or should have known that someone in your supply chain was deliberately not operating CIS, it can cancel your gross payment status straight away. You then can't apply again for 5 years. The same applies if you got the status on false information, or HMRC suspects fraud on your own returns. More in CIS late filing penalties.
Applying for CIS gross payment status
Apply to HMRC online or by post, on the form for a sole trader, partnership or limited company. See GOV.UK: how to get gross payment status.
CIS gross payment status questions
- How much turnover do I need for gross payment status?
- Over the last 12 months, at least £30,000 if you're a sole trader. A partnership needs £30,000 for each partner or £100,000, whichever is lower. A company needs £30,000 for each director or £100,000, whichever is lower, and if 5 or fewer people control it, its shareholders count as well as its directors.
- Does the turnover include VAT and materials?
- No. Count what you were paid for construction work, less VAT and less what you spent on materials for those jobs. Plant hire and fuel for plant count as materials; travel and subsistence don't. Work that isn't construction doesn't count.
- Will late CIS returns stop me getting gross payment status?
- They can. HMRC overlooks up to three late CIS returns in the 12 months before you apply, as long as none was more than 28 days late. A fourth late return, one more than 28 days late, or one still not filed when you apply means you fail the compliance test.
- What about paying my CIS deductions late?
- Late payments under £100 are overlooked. Of £100 or more, HMRC overlooks up to three in 12 months for each tax, CIS deductions, PAYE and VAT, if each was paid no more than 14 days late. Any later than that, or a fourth, and you fail.
- How do I apply for gross payment status?
- Apply to HMRC online or on the postal form for a sole trader, partnership or limited company. It also registers you for CIS if you aren't already.
- Can HMRC take gross payment status away?
- Yes. HMRC checks your record every year. If you fail, it writes to say the status goes in 90 days, and you have 30 days to appeal. Once it's gone, you wait a year to apply again. If HMRC finds you knew or should have known about CIS fraud in your supply chain, it can cancel straight away, and then you can't apply for 5 years.
Do this in 0s and 1s
On-time CIS returns are part of the compliance test. 0s and 1s shows each tax month's return date, and files the CIS300 or nil return with your Government Gateway login, with HMRC's receipt kept for every return.
Related
- CIS late filing penalties
What a late return costs, and what makes it more
- CIS penalty calculator
What a late return costs, and the date each penalty is charged
- Verify a subcontractor
When to verify, what you need and the three rates