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Making Tax Digital · Electricians

Making Tax Digital for electricians: 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 electricians

A self-employed electrician mixing domestic work with a few contractor jobs usually clears £30,000 in turnover by the autumn, and the certification scheme fees, test gear and wholesaler account are expenses, but they don't reduce the turnover HMRC checks. Over £30,000 in 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 electricians' numbers

An electrician took £58,000 in 2025 to 2026: rewires, consumer units, EV points and one contractor refurb where £2,400 of CIS came off. £21,000 went on the wholesaler account, test gear, scheme fees and the van. HMRC's figure is £58,000, so 6 April 2027 at the latest.

Invoiced, before expenses
£58,000
Materials, costs, subbies
£21,000
CIS taken off by contractors
£2,400
What reached the bank
£55,600
HMRC's figure
£58,000

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.

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CIS and electricians

Installing systems for lighting and power is on GOV.UK's list of construction work, so a builder or a contractor paying you on a new build or a refurb deducts 20% from the labour. Domestic work for homeowners, a consumer unit or a rewire, has no deduction. The Making Tax Digital figure is your turnover before either.

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.

Work out a CIS deduction, free

The records electricians lose

  • The wholesaler's monthly account statement, one total across a dozen jobs.
  • Scheme registration, calibration of the tester and the 18th edition update, all paid once a year and forgotten.
  • Small cash buys: clips, grommets, a length of twin and earth from the local shop at 7am.

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 electricians ask

Do my scheme fees and test equipment count as expenses in the update?

They're business expenses, so they go into your expense totals like any other cost. The update carries the total for each expense category, not the individual receipts, so what matters is that each one is recorded against the right category when you pay it.

I invoice a builder and a few homeowners. Is that one business or two?

One. It's all self-employment income from your electrical work, and it all adds together for the threshold. The only difference is that the builder deducts CIS and the homeowners don't.

What if I go over £30,000 part way through the year?

The threshold is checked on a whole tax year's return. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means you use Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027. Going over during 2026 to 2027 affects the April 2028 check, not this one.

When is my first quarterly update due if I go on it in April 2027?

By 7 August 2027, for 6 April to 5 July. GOV.UK sets the four deadlines at 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and each update carries category totals for the year so far, so a mistake in one is simply corrected in the next.

I'm not great with computers. Can I get out of Making Tax Digital?

GOV.UK lets people who are digitally excluded apply for an exemption, by phone or by letter, saying why you can't use software. If it's granted you still do a Self Assessment tax return as now. Most sparkies who test with a phone app find the records are the easy part.

Do I still do a tax return in January once I'm on Making Tax Digital?

Yes, but through your MTD software. GOV.UK says the return is still due by 31 January after the tax year, so 2027 to 2028 is due by 31 January 2029. The four quarterly updates feed it; the return is where the year's profit and your tax are finalised.

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

Built on the tools, not in a boardroom

Tom, plaster still on his top, shaking a customer's hand in front of his van

I'm Tom. Ten years in the trade, and every quote done sat in the van on the drive. If that's you, keep reading.

Tom · Founder · InstaQuote Ltd

I started in the trade at 17. Ten years in, the work was fine. It was everything after the work.

Every night I'd pull up at home and sit in the van on the drive, because the quotes and the invoices and the chasing had to be done before I went in. Every night. And the better the quotes were, the more people rang, so it never got smaller. I was starting to hate a trade I'd loved since I was 17.

If you've ever sat outside your own house doing paperwork, you know.

I tried every system going. Every one made a quote, then left me in the van doing the rest.

So I came off the tools and spent 18 months building the thing that didn't exist. Every step I used to do on that drive, built in so it happens without you. The quote prices itself from your rates. The deposit books the job. The invoice goes when you tap Job done. The late payer gets chased. VAT and CIS worked out.

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