Just had your first one off a contractor and not sure what you're looking at? This is the whole thing in plain English. The template's below if you're the one issuing them.
Download the Excel template — it does the maths Or the print-and-fill PDFFree, no email wanted, no sign-up. Contents checked against HMRC's requirements, August 2026.
It's the nearest thing you get to a payslip. Every tax month a contractor pays you, they have to give you a statement showing what they paid you, what you spent on materials, and what they've taken off and sent to HMRC in your name. That last number is the one that matters, because it's your money, and this bit of paper is how you prove it's yours when the refund gets claimed.
Tax months run 6th to 5th, and the statement for each one is due to you by the 19th. Just gone CIS? Registering is the first job — it's the difference between 20% and 30% on every one of these.
HMRC fixes what a statement has to show, not what it looks like — so yours might be a proper form, a spreadsheet, or a line at the bottom of a remittance. Whatever the shape, these are the bits:
| Field | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Contractor name + employer's tax reference | Who took the deduction — the firm that paid you, and their PAYE reference (the 123/AB45678 one) |
| Tax month ending | Always the 5th — "tax month ending 5 September 2026". One statement per tax month they paid you |
| Your name + UTR | Must be the exact name you registered under, and your ten-digit UTR |
| Verification number | Only appears if they couldn't match you to HMRC's records and took 30% |
| Gross amount paid | Excluding VAT — labour plus materials, before anything comes off. Should match your invoice |
| Cost of materials | What you paid for materials — this comes off before the deduction is worked out |
| Amount deducted | The 20% (or 30%) that's gone to HMRC in your name. Not lost — it counts against your tax bill |
First time you get one, check these three things. Thirty seconds, and it saves you a headache next April.
If any of it looks wrong, or you're just not sure, take a photo and WhatsApp it to me, I'll tell you.
Your refund in April is basically these statements added up. HMRC has the contractor's side already, they file a return every month saying what they took off you, and when your return goes in, the two get matched. Statements you've lost are the usual reason a refund comes back smaller than it should, because you end up claiming what you can prove rather than what was actually taken. Photo of every one, the day it lands, and you never have that problem.
That's the whole job on the £69 plan. Statement lands, you take a photo, WhatsApp it to me, and I log it against the right contractor and the right month. You get a one-line reply so you know it's in. Come the 6th of April, the year's already done and the refund goes in without you finding anything. First month's free on Solo and Growth, no card, nothing to cancel.
If you deduct CIS off a subbie, you owe them a written statement for every tax month you deducted — within 14 days of the tax month ending, so by the 19th. Miss it and their refund claim is the thing that suffers, and HMRC takes reports about contractors who don't issue them. The template at the top does it properly in two minutes.
The bit most people get wrong: the deduction comes off labour, not the invoice total. Take the gross, strip the VAT, take off what the subbie actually paid for materials, plant hire and consumables — then apply the 20% or 30%. HMRC checks your statements against your CIS300, so the two have to agree. Handling all of that every month is what the Firm plan is for.
One of two things. Either you're not registered for CIS yet, or you are but the contractor couldn't match you when they verified you, usually because the name they used isn't the exact one you registered under, or the UTR's wrong. Registering fixes the first one, giving them your exact details fixes the second. The extra 10% isn't lost, it's sat with HMRC against your tax bill and comes back when your return goes in, but there's no point lending it to them for a year.
They have to, it's not optional, one for every tax month they've deducted from you. Ask in writing first, a dated WhatsApp is fine, so there's a record. In the meantime keep the remittance or the bank credit and write down the gross, the materials and what was taken off, because that's what you'll be claiming from if the statement never turns up. If they still won't issue them, HMRC will take a report about it.
Any contractor who deducts CIS from a subbie's payment. One statement per subbie, per tax month — or per payment, if they pay more often and prefer it that way. Gross-status subbies have nothing deducted, so no statement.
Yes, as long as the subbie agrees and can save and print it. A filled-in copy of the spreadsheet or PDF above does the job. A reissued lost one should be marked "Duplicate".
They check statements against the CIS300 monthly return the contractor files. If the two don't agree, it's the subbie's refund that gets held up. Keep copies, both sides.
VAT never enters the deduction maths. And if it's CIS work between two VAT-registered businesses, chances are the reverse charge applies and there's no VAT on the invoice at all.
Next: register for CIS · CIS or PAYE — what changes · what your refund might be · how CIS refunds work · what CIS is, start to finish