Making Tax Digital · Driveway & Paving Firms
Making Tax Digital for driveway and paving firms: 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 driveway and paving firms
A self-employed driveway installer is over £30,000 of turnover on four or five drives, because the blocks, the type 1 and the skips are in every price. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 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 driveway and paving firms' numbers
A driveway firm took £92,000 in 2025 to 2026 on fourteen driveways and patios for homeowners, no CIS deducted. £49,000 went on block paving, aggregates, digger hire, skips and two labourers. HMRC's figure is £92,000, and over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 meant a 6 April 2026 start.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £92,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £49,000
- HMRC's figure
- £92,000
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 driveway and paving firms
Laying a driveway or a patio on a site can count as site preparation and building work, so a developer or a landscaping contractor paying you can deduct 20% from the labour, and the lads you pay make you a contractor for them. Most driveways are for homeowners, with no deduction. Every job counts in full for Making Tax Digital, blocks and sub-base included.
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 driveway and paving firms lose
- Blocks and aggregates delivered to the job and paid to the merchant on account, one statement a month.
- Skips and digger hire paid on the card and never matched to a drive.
- The two labourers paid weekly in cash: self-employed makes you their contractor under CIS, employees are PAYE, and your accountant tells you which.
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 driveway and paving firms ask
Deposits of 30% up front. When are they income?
Record each deposit on the day it lands, with the date, and it's in that quarter's running total. Your accountant can advise on year-end treatment; the quarterly update only needs the totals.
I pay two lads cash. Does Making Tax Digital change that?
Making Tax Digital wants the total of what you paid them in your expense totals. Paying self-employed people for construction work also makes you a contractor under CIS, with deductions and a monthly return; if they're really employees it's PAYE, so ask your accountant which. Logging each payment covers both.
A developer took 20% off my invoice for an estate's driveways. Correct?
It can be. Site preparation and building work are on GOV.UK's construction list, so a contractor can deduct; their statement tells you. The deduction counts towards your tax, and your turnover is the gross amount invoiced.
Fourteen drives a year, each with a deposit and a balance. How many records?
Two per drive for the income, plus each cost. GOV.UK says every income and expense is a digital record with amount, date and category, and the quarterly update sends the category totals for the year so far.
Do I still do a January tax return?
Yes. The return still goes in by 31 January after the tax year, through your MTD software rather than the old form. GOV.UK says the four quarterly updates feed it; the return is where the year is finalised and the tax worked out.
I'm not computer minded. Can I be exempt?
Only if you're digitally excluded. GOV.UK says you apply by phone or letter with the reason, and if granted you still do a Self Assessment return. It's HMRC's decision who is digitally excluded, so if you believe that's you, apply and give the reason.
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)
