Making Tax Digital · Damp proofing specialists
Making Tax Digital for damp proofing specialists: 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 damp proofing specialists
A self-employed damp proofer supplying the chemicals, the membrane and the re-plaster is over £30,000 of turnover on a couple of dozen jobs. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027, and survey fees are income too.
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 damp proofing specialists' numbers
A damp proofer took £45,000 in 2025 to 2026: rising damp treatments, two cellar tankings, surveys and one builder's job with £1,000 of CIS taken off. £13,000 went on injection cream, membranes, renovating plaster and the van. HMRC's figure is £45,000, so 6 April 2027.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £45,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £13,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £1,000
- What reached the bank
- £44,000
- HMRC's figure
- £45,000
Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027
Over £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, so it starts on 6 April 2027. That tax year has ended, so the figure HMRC checks is the one on your 2025 to 2026 return. Only an amended return before 6 April 2027, or all your trade and property income stopping, changes it, and a short first year gets scaled up to 12 months (GOV.UK, qualifying income, 11 September 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 damp proofing specialists
Injecting a damp course, tanking and re-plastering are repairs and alterations to a building, so a builder or a contractor paying you deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. Every job counts in full towards your Making Tax Digital figure.
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 damp proofing specialists lose
- Survey fees at £60 to £120, taken by card on the doorstep and never logged against a job.
- Specialist materials ordered online and paid on a personal card because the business one had expired.
- The plasterer you pay to re-skim after the treatment, which makes you a contractor under CIS for them.
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 damp proofing specialists ask
Are survey fees turnover even when the customer doesn't go ahead?
Yes. A fee for a survey is income from your self-employment, whether or not the job follows. Record it the day it arrives and it goes into the income totals.
I give a 20-year guarantee. Does the guarantee work count as new turnover?
Only money you receive counts as income. Work under guarantee with no payment is a cost to you, and the materials for it go into your expense totals.
Does paying a plasterer put me under CIS as a contractor?
Paying someone for construction work makes you a contractor under the scheme, with a deduction to make from their labour (20% if they're registered, 30% if not) and a monthly return. For Making Tax Digital their invoice is one of your expenses.
Is Making Tax Digital the same as MTD for VAT?
No. MTD for VAT reaches VAT-registered businesses and GOV.UK says they should already be signed up. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is the sole trader one: digital records, quarterly updates and the tax return through software once you're over the threshold. A VAT-registered damp proofer over £30,000 is in both.
Do the quarterly updates mean I pay tax four times a year?
No. GOV.UK says each update carries category totals for the year so far; it isn't a payment. Your tax is still worked out on the return, sent through your software by 31 January after the tax year.
Is there an exemption if I can't use a computer?
GOV.UK says people who are digitally excluded can apply, by phone or letter, saying why software isn't possible. If granted, you still do a Self Assessment return. HMRC decides who counts as digitally excluded, so if you think that's you, apply and say why.
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)
