Making Tax Digital · EV Charge Point Installers
Making Tax Digital for electric car charger installers: 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 electric car charger installers
A self-employed EV charger installer supplying and fitting is over £30,000 of turnover on about thirty home installs, with the charger in every price. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027, and work through an installer network is paid gross only if they're not a contractor or you have gross payment status.
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 electric car charger installers' numbers
An EV charger installer took £54,000 in 2025 to 2026: forty home installs supplied and fitted, a small fleet depot, and a run of installs for a network that deducted £1,600 of CIS. £27,000 went on chargers, cable, isolators, consumer unit upgrades and the van. HMRC's figure is £54,000, so 6 April 2027 at the latest.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £54,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £27,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £1,600
- What reached the bank
- £52,400
- HMRC's figure
- £54,000
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 electric car charger installers
Installing a power system is on GOV.UK's construction list, so a builder or an installer network paying you to fit charge points on a site or a fleet deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. If you supply the charger, the whole price is your Making Tax Digital turnover.
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 electric car charger installers lose
- Chargers bought from the distributor in tens, paid on account, used across a month of jobs.
- Network installs paid on a monthly statement, net of CIS, with your invoice never raised.
- DNO notifications, scheme registration and the test gear calibration, paid once and forgotten.
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 electric car charger installers ask
The installer network pays me a fixed fee per job. Is that my turnover?
Yes, the gross fee before any CIS deduction. If they also supply the charger, only your fee is turnover. If you supply it and they pay you for both, the whole amount is.
A grant scheme paid part of a customer's install. Whose income is it?
If the grant was paid to you towards a job, it's money received for that job. Record it with the customer's payment; your accountant confirms how it's treated at year end.
I also do general electrical work. One business or two?
One, unless you genuinely run them as separate businesses with separate records. Either way all self-employment income adds together for the £30,000 check.
Can I send updates more often than quarterly?
Yes. GOV.UK says you can choose to send updates more often, and each one still covers the year so far. The four deadlines, 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, are the latest, not the only, dates.
Do the network's monthly statements count as my records?
They're the evidence; the record is the digital entry. GOV.UK says each record holds amount, date and category, and the statement is the original you keep. Record each one gross with the CIS shown, the day it arrives.
Is there free MTD software for an EV installer?
GOV.UK says free products exist for simple tax affairs and that some carry a transaction cap, which forty chargers a year and a distributor account can pass. 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)
