Making Tax Digital · Dryliners
Making Tax Digital for dryliners: 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 dryliners
A self-employed dryliner on price work for a main contractor is paid almost entirely through CIS, and over £30,000 of turnover before the summer. If the gross on your 2025 to 2026 statements was more than £30,000, Making Tax Digital starts on 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 dryliners' numbers
A dryliner was paid £49,000 gross in 2025 to 2026 on price work for two contractors, who deducted £9,800 of CIS. Costs were £4,000: screws, blades, a laser and fuel. The bank shows £39,200. HMRC's figure is £49,000, so 6 April 2027.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £49,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £4,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £9,800
- What reached the bank
- £39,200
- HMRC's figure
- £49,000
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 dryliners
Drylining is building work on new builds and refurbs, and nearly all of it is paid by contractors, so most of a dryliner's year has 20% deducted from the labour. The Making Tax Digital figure is the gross on the contractor's statements, before that 20%, which is why the bank total can mislead you.
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 dryliners lose
- Metres measured and agreed with the QS, paid on a self-bill you never see until the statement.
- Screws, tape and blades from the fixings van on site, paid in cash.
- The payment and deduction statements, one a month from each contractor, which prove the tax taken.
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 dryliners ask
I never raise an invoice. The contractor pays me off a valuation. What's my record?
The contractor's self-billed invoice or payment and deduction statement is your sales record. Record each one as income, gross amount and CIS deducted, the day it arrives.
Two contractors, two sets of statements. Is that two businesses?
No, one. All your drylining income is one self-employment, and both contractors' payments add together for the threshold. The quarterly update totals the lot.
I had 30% deducted because I wasn't registered. Does that change the figure?
No. Whether 20% or 30% came off, your turnover is the gross amount. GOV.UK says contractors deduct 30% if you're not registered, and the deductions still count as advance payments towards your tax. Registering gets it back to 20%.
The contractor pays me monthly. Is that one record or lots?
One record per payment, with the gross amount, the date and the CIS deducted. GOV.UK says each digital record carries the amount, date and category; the quarterly update then sends the totals, not the statements. Twelve statements a year is twelve entries.
I started in January 2026, three months of the tax year. Am I in?
Possibly. GOV.UK says HMRC annualises a sole trader's qualifying income when it has the information, so three months is scaled to twelve. £9,000 in three months counts as £36,000, which is over the line for April 2027.
What if I'm late with an update because the site shut for Christmas?
From 2027 to 2028 a late quarterly update is one penalty point, four points is £200, and each further late one is another £200. A point expires after 24 months on its own; once you hit four, it's 12 months of on-time filing plus clearing anything outstanding from the last 24 months. The totals come from entries you've already made, so the update takes minutes.
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)
