Free Tool
CIS Rebate Calculator
Deducted 20% all year? Most subcontractors are owed money back. Estimate your CIS tax refund in ten seconds — no email address required.
Estimate for 2026/27 using the personal allowance (£12,570), income tax bands and Class 4 National Insurance. Excludes other income, student loans, pensions and capital allowances — your accountant confirms the final figure.
Why CIS Subcontractors Get Refunds
CIS deductions take a flat 20% of your labour(30% if you're not registered) — but your actual tax bill is calculated on profit, after your tax-free personal allowance of £12,570 and every allowable expense. The flat deduction almost always overshoots.
Example
A registered subcontractor grosses £35,000 with £6,000 of expenses. Contractors deducted £7,000 through the year. Actual income tax and Class 4 NI on £29,000 profit comes to roughly £4,250 — so around £2,750 comes back after filing.
Claim It Yourself — Don't Give a Cut Away
Rebate firms take a slice of your refund for filling in a form with numbers you already have. Track income, expenses and CIS deductions through the year and the claim is a ten-minute job for you or your accountant — and the whole refund stays yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do CIS refunds work?
Contractors deduct 20% (or 30% if unregistered) from your labour payments and pass it to HMRC as advance tax. But that flat deduction ignores your personal allowance (£12,570 tax-free) and your business expenses — so most subcontractors overpay through the year and claim the difference back after filing Self Assessment.
How much is the average CIS rebate?
Most sole-trader subcontractors get between £1,200 and £3,000 back, depending on income, expenses and how much was deducted. Over 300,000 CIS workers reclaim more than £350 million every year.
When can I claim my CIS refund?
As soon as the tax year ends on 5 April. File your Self Assessment early — you do not need to wait until the 31 January deadline. HMRC usually pays refunds within 2–8 weeks of filing.
What increases my CIS refund?
Allowable business expenses: tools, materials you paid for, van costs and fuel, insurance, PPE and workwear, phone, and training that updates existing skills. Every £100 of expenses adds roughly £26 to a basic-rate refund — so keeping receipts all year genuinely pays.
Do I need to pay a rebate company to claim?
No. Rebate firms typically charge a percentage of your refund for doing arithmetic on records you already have. If your income and expenses are tracked through the year, your accountant — or you — can file the claim in minutes, and you keep the whole refund.
What records do I need?
Your CIS deduction statements from each contractor, plus a record of income and expenses for the year. Traddie tracks CIS deductions on every invoice automatically and produces the per-contractor statement your Self Assessment needs.
See your refund building all year
Traddie tracks CIS deductions on every invoice, logs your expenses with receipt scanning, and shows your estimated refund growing in real time — plus the per-contractor statement your Self Assessment needs.