Making Tax Digital · Painters & decorators
Making Tax Digital for painters and decorators: 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 painters and decorators
A self-employed decorator on homeowner jobs with the paint in the price reaches £30,000 of turnover on about thirty rooms, and a decorator on a contractor's refurb is paid through CIS so the bank understates it. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027.
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 painters and decorators' numbers
A decorator took £31,200 in 2025 to 2026: homeowner rooms, two exteriors and a month on a contractor's refurb where £2,200 of CIS came off. £7,400 went on paint, filler, sheets, brushes and the van. HMRC's figure is £31,200, just over the line, so 6 April 2027.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £31,200
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £7,400
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £2,200
- What reached the bank
- £29,000
- HMRC's figure
- £31,200
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 painters and decorators
Decorating is named on GOV.UK's list of construction work, in the words "alterations, repairs and decorating", so a builder or a housing contractor paying you deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. Every invoice 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 painters and decorators lose
- Paint bought on the trade card at the decorators' centre, the same statement covering four customers.
- Cash for a day's work on a landlord's flat, spent before it was written down.
- The contractor's deduction statement for the refurb month, which proves £2,200 of tax already paid.
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 painters and decorators ask
I'm only just over £30,000. Does a quiet year drop me out again?
The April 2027 start is decided by the 2025 to 2026 return alone. Whether a later quiet year takes you out again isn't on the eligibility page, so ask your accountant or HMRC before you assume it. Plan on staying in.
Does paint the customer bought count?
No. If the customer bought the paint themselves, it never went through your books. If you bought it and charged for it, the full amount is turnover and the paint is your expense.
A builder took 20% off my invoice. Is decorating really CIS?
Yes. GOV.UK's list of construction work includes alterations, repairs and decorating, so a contractor paying a decorator deducts 20% from the labour. The deduction counts towards your tax bill, and your turnover is the gross invoice.
I'm a decorator who also does a bit of PAYE for a firm in winter. Does the firm's money count?
No. The firm's money is PAYE wages, and GOV.UK leaves wages out of qualifying income, which is self-employment and property income before expenses. Only your own decorating counts towards the £30,000 for 2025 to 2026.
When's the first quarterly update due for someone starting in April 2027?
7 August 2027, for the quarter 6 April to 5 July. GOV.UK's deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, each update covering the year so far in category totals, so a wrong total is simply corrected in the next one.
Can I use free software for Making Tax Digital?
Yes, for simple tax affairs: GOV.UK says free products exist and that some cap how many transactions you can enter, and a decorator buying paint by the job racks up transactions. Through InstaQuote, ANNA's business account gives sole traders MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year; InstaQuote is 7 days free then from £47 a month.
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)
