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How does the VAT reverse charge work for construction?

The short answer

Under the CIS domestic reverse charge, a VAT-registered sub working for a VAT-registered contractor doesn't add VAT to the bill. The customer accounts for that VAT instead. The invoice says the reverse charge applies and shows the VAT due, or the rate if the amount can't be shown. It doesn't apply to an end user who tells you in writing.

The domestic reverse charge has applied to most building and construction services since March 2021. It was brought in to stop VAT fraud in the supply chain. In short: if you're a VAT-registered sub working for a VAT-registered contractor on CIS work, you don't add the VAT to your bill. The invoice still shows the VAT due (or, if it can't be shown, the rate) and says the reverse charge applies and the customer accounts for the VAT, but that VAT isn't added to what they pay you. It doesn't apply if the customer tells you in writing they're an end user or an intermediary supplier.

It catches a lot of trades out. Get it wrong and you either charge VAT you shouldn't, or leave it off when you should have added it. The rules turn on who the customer is (end user or not) and whether both sides are registered for VAT and CIS.

InstaQuote does the sums for you. Tick CIS on the quote, and the reverse charge under it if it applies, and the figures, the wording and the PDF follow. The invoice carries the same ticks over, so you don't work it out twice.

InstaQuote does this part for you. The quote prices itself from your rates, the deposit books the job in, the invoice goes when you tap Job done, and the late payer gets chased in your name. None of the ten trade apps we checked says its deposit books the job in. 7 days free, cancel in two taps.

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Related questions

Who does the construction reverse charge apply to?

When you and your customer are both VAT registered, the work falls under CIS, and the customer hasn't told you in writing they're an end user or an intermediary. If you supply an end user (for example a homeowner), you charge VAT as normal.

What must a reverse charge invoice say?

It must say the reverse charge applies and the customer accounts for the VAT, and show the amount of VAT due. Only if you can't show the amount do you show the rate instead. That VAT isn't added to the total.

More answers

How do I take a deposit before starting a job?How do I chase late-paying customers?What should a professional quote include?Is there an app that books the job in when the deposit is paid?

Built on the tools, not in a boardroom

Tom, plaster still on his top, shaking a customer's hand in front of his van

I'm Tom. Ten years in the trade, and every quote done sat in the van on the drive. If that's you, keep reading.

Tom · Founder · InstaQuote Ltd

I started in the trade at 17. Ten years in, the work was fine. It was everything after the work.

Every night I'd pull up at home and sit in the van on the drive, because the quotes and the invoices and the chasing had to be done before I went in. Every night. And the better the quotes were, the more people rang, so it never got smaller. I was starting to hate a trade I'd loved since I was 17.

If you've ever sat outside your own house doing paperwork, you know.

I tried every system going. Every one made a quote, then left me in the van doing the rest.

So I came off the tools and spent 18 months building the thing that didn't exist. Every step I used to do on that drive, built in so it happens without you. The quote prices itself from your rates. The deposit books the job. The invoice goes when you tap Job done. The late payer gets chased. VAT and CIS worked out.

Two things we found in no other trade app we checked: the deposit on your quote books the job and the customer moves the date themselves, and your bank statement gets matched with the tax to put aside shown.

It's new. Price a real job on it, 7 days free. If it's not quicker than what you do now, bin it and tell me why.

What I want is simple: you out of the van and in the house, paid properly and on time, and back in love with the trade you picked.

Want your prices set up with you? Reply to the welcome email and I'll ring you.

  • InstaQuote Ltd
  • Co. No. 17224118
  • Registered in England & Wales
  • ICO ZC153382
  • Payments on Stripe, we never see a card number
  • Data never sold
  • VAT, CIS & reverse charge the HMRC way

The whole job

The same job, before and after.

You shouldn't have to do any of this. After you send the quote, the only thing you do is tap Job done. The deposit, the booking, the invoice and the chasing are handled.

  1. 01Quoting

    NowQuote typed up after tea. Sent as a PDF. No reply for a week.

    With InstaQuoteQuote priced from your saved rates in seconds. Sent straight away. The customer accepts on their phone.

  2. 02Customer acceptance & deposit

    NowDeposit asked for by text. Paid when they remember.

    With InstaQuoteThe quote is accepted and the deposit is paid on the same screen, by card.

  3. 03Invoices & payment chasing

    NowInvoice done on Sunday. Paid a month late after two awkward calls.

    With InstaQuoteTap Job done and the invoice goes out. Late payers get reminders in your name that stop when they pay.

  4. 04VAT, CIS & totals

    NowVAT and CIS added up at the kitchen table, twice, to be sure.

    With InstaQuoteVAT, CIS and job totals worked out on every quote and invoice, the HMRC way, with the figure shown.

Why us, not the others

Six things no other trade app we checked does.

Every app we checked does quotes, invoices, the diary, VAT and CIS. So do we. These six are on top, and none of the ten says it does them.

  1. The deposit books the job.

    No more chasing a date. They pick it, they move it, you turn up.

  2. Your bank statement, matched to your invoices.

    Upload it and every payment is matched to the invoice it paid. No surprise tax bill: what to put aside is shown as the year goes.

  3. Download everything, even after you cancel.

    Your work is yours, not ours. Five of the ten say on their own sites that they lock you out or delete it.

  4. One tap splits labour and materials.

    No more working out the itemised version at the kitchen table. Your merchant's prices, your markup.

  5. Your own certificates, with reminders.

    Gas Safe, NICEIC, CSCS, insurance, the lot on file. You're told before one runs out, never after.

  6. Ask ChatGPT or Claude what's on today.

    Make a key in Settings, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude once, and ask "who owes me?". It can read your account and never change it.

Checked on their own websites, 18 to 26 September 2026, and ServiceM8 again on 3 October, and all ten again on 12 October 2026: Tradify, Powered Now, Fergus, ServiceM8, Jobber, Commusoft, YourTradebase, QuickPrice, VoxTrade and PriceUp. Where their site says nothing, we say "not found", never "they don't". See it app by app.

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  • No minimum term. Cancel when you want.

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    Take a deposit or an invoice by card and InstaQuote adds nothing. Stripe's own card rate still applies, the same as anywhere.

  • Not quicker than what you do now? Cancel.

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