Making Tax Digital · Bricklayers & renderers
Making Tax Digital for bricklayers and renderers: do you need it?
170 days until it starts for sole traders over £30,000
Checked against GOV.UK, 14 October 2026.
The short answer for bricklayers and renderers
A self-employed bricklayer on price work for a housebuilder can be paid almost entirely through CIS, which is why so many brickies think they're under £30,000 when their invoices say otherwise. The turnover HMRC checks is the gross figure on those invoices.
The thresholds, from GOV.UK (26 March 2026): over £50,000 for 2024 to 2025 started on 6 April 2026, over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 starts on 6 April 2027, over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 starts on 6 April 2028. All counted as turnover, before expenses.
The figure HMRC checks
HMRC checks your qualifying income: everything that came in from self-employment and property, before expenses. GOV.UK calls it turnover. Wages from a PAYE job don't count.
The figure is what you invoiced, not what landed in the bank. GOV.UK says the deductions a contractor takes count as advance payments towards your tax and National Insurance bill, and qualifying income is counted before expenses, so the 20% that came off is still part of your turnover.
A worked year, in bricklayers and renderers' numbers
A bricklayer invoiced £52,000 in 2025 to 2026, nearly all of it to two contractors on price work, who took £9,200 off in CIS. Costs were £6,000: tools, mixer, fuel and insurance. £42,800 reached the bank. HMRC's figure is £52,000, which was also over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 for this brickie, so it started on 6 April 2026.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £52,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £6,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £9,200
- What reached the bank
- £42,800
- HMRC's figure
- £52,000
Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027 at the latest
Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027. If it was over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 as well, it should have started on 6 April 2026.
Need it? Sort it in two minutes.
InstaQuote, 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA opens from inside it, free for your first year. About 2 minutes.
- InstaQuote does the quotes, the invoices and the chasing.
- ANNA is the MTD software your updates go to HMRC through, free for your first year.
- You do the job.
- Not sure where to start? Reply to your welcome email and I'll set it up with you.
- ANNA gives you a personal tax calendar with reminders, so no quarter slips past.
- Prefer your accountant? They can still do it, and your records are ready for them.
I'm Tom, the founder. Ten years in the trade, every quote done in the van. If it's not quicker than what you do now, bin it and tell me why.
AdInstaQuote: 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA: £0 monthly fee to start, MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year, and a personal tax calendar with reminders (anna.money, 14 October 2026). InstaQuote may be paid by ANNA if you open an account through us. ANNA's terms apply.
CIS and bricklayers and renderers
Brickwork and rendering are building work, so a contractor paying you deducts 20% from the labour, and most of a bricklayer's year is paid that way. Price work for a homeowner, a garden wall or a re-render, has no deduction. Your Making Tax Digital figure is the full invoiced amount either way.
The rate, from GOV.UK: 20% if you're registered for CIS, 30% if you're not, nothing if you have gross payment status. Whoever deducts must give you a statement, and that statement is your proof.
The records bricklayers and renderers lose
- Price work measured and signed off on site, with nothing written down until the contractor's self-bill arrives.
- The contractor's payment and deduction statements, one a month, which show the tax already paid.
- Lime, sand and render bought for the odd homeowner job and paid out of pocket.
Every three months your software sends HMRC totals for each income and expense category, not the receipts themselves. The updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and each one covers the tax year so far.
InstaQuote holds those quotes, invoices and expenses as you work, so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records. It isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through.
Questions bricklayers and renderers ask
The contractor self-bills me. Where's my record?
Their self-billed invoice and the payment and deduction statement are your sales records. Log each one as income in the app the day it arrives, gross amount and CIS deducted, and the quarterly totals build themselves.
I was over £50,000 last year. Have I already missed the start?
If your 2024 to 2025 turnover was over £50,000, GOV.UK says you should have started on 6 April 2026. Set up now, bring the year's records in, and ask your accountant about the updates already missed.
Is a garden wall for a homeowner counted differently?
Only for CIS: a homeowner doesn't deduct anything. For Making Tax Digital it's the same self-employment income as the contractor work, and it all adds up to your turnover.
Do I still do a tax return in January if I'm on Making Tax Digital?
Yes, but through your MTD software rather than the old online form. GOV.UK says the return is still due by 31 January after the tax year ends, so the 2027 to 2028 year is due by 31 January 2029. The quarterly updates feed it; they don't replace it.
I lost two of the contractor's deduction statements. What goes in my records?
The gross amount you were paid and the CIS taken off, by date. GOV.UK says the contractor must give you a statement for each deduction, so ask them for copies. Record each payment the day it lands and the statements become the check, not the only copy.
Me and my brother work as a partnership. Are we in from April 2027?
Not yet. GOV.UK says partnerships will need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in the future and that the timeline will be set out later. Your own personal self-employment or property income is checked separately, as an individual.
Does InstaQuote file my Making Tax Digital updates?
No. InstaQuote holds the quotes, invoices and expenses so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records; it isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through, from the business account you open inside your InstaQuote account.
Checked against GOV.UK
- GOV.UK: Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Work out your qualifying income (updated 11 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Send quarterly updates (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Income Tax Self Assessment volunteers (updated 12 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 30 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 13 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Create digital records (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Find software that's compatible (updated 13 July 2026)
- GOV.UK: Apply for an exemption (updated 17 August 2026)
- GOV.UK: CIS deductions from your payments (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: HMRC's Transformation Roadmap (no MTD for Corporation Tax) (updated 21 July 2025)
- GOV.UK: What is the Construction Industry Scheme (what counts as construction work) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS subcontractor (deductions) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS contractor (statements, monthly returns) (read 14 October 2026)
