Gross payment status: the CIS upgrade worth thousands in cash flow

Most subcontractors accept CIS deductions as a fact of life: 20% gone from every invoice before it lands. Gross payment status switches that off. You get paid in full, and for many construction businesses it is the single biggest cash-flow upgrade available.

What gross payment status is

It is HMRC approval to be paid without CIS deductions. Contractors still verify you and file their returns, but nothing is withheld: you receive 100% of your invoice and settle your own tax through your return or Corporation Tax, on the normal dates. The money works for you in the meantime, not for HMRC.

The three tests

• Business test: you do construction work in the UK and run it through a bank account
• Turnover test: at least £30,000 of construction turnover (net of materials) as a sole trader, or £30,000 per director for a company, or £100,000 total for larger companies
• Compliance test: your returns and tax payments have been on time, with only minor lapses tolerated

The compliance test is where most applications live or die, and it is also why the time to apply is when your record is clean, not when cash is desperate.

Worth how much?

A subcontractor invoicing £150,000 a year with £30,000 of materials has £24,000 withheld under CIS at 20%. With gross status that £24,000 stays in the business all year: covering wages in slow months, buying materials without borrowing, taking the bigger contract. The tax still gets paid eventually, but on your schedule, not in advance.

Keeping it

HMRC reviews gross status annually, and late filings or payments can lose it. That is the trade: gross status makes discipline profitable. With deadlines tracked and filings early, keeping it is routine; that is literally what we do.

Get assessed

We check whether you pass the tests today, fix what fails, prepare the application and keep your record clean afterwards. It is all part of our Contractors & CIS service. Book a free consultation and bring your last few CIS statements.

CIS runs on dates: returns by the 19th, payments, year-end refunds. They are all on our UK tax deadlines page.