Making Tax Digital · Garden Room Builders
Making Tax Digital for garden room builders: 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 garden room builders
A self-employed garden room builder is over £30,000 of turnover on two rooms, because the base, the frame, the cladding and the electrics are all in one price. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027, and every staged payment needs recording the day it lands.
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 garden room builders' numbers
A garden room builder took £164,000 in 2025 to 2026 on eight rooms for homeowners, no CIS deducted from him. £103,000 went on timber, insulation, cladding, glazing, the base, a sparky and a plasterer on each one. HMRC's figure is £164,000, and over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 meant 6 April 2026.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £164,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £103,000
- HMRC's figure
- £164,000
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 garden room builders
A garden room is a permanent or temporary structure, which is exactly what CIS covers, so the sparky, the plasterer and the roofer you pay make you a contractor under the scheme, with a deduction to make from their labour (20% if they're registered, 30% if not). Your homeowner customers deduct nothing. Every build counts in full for Making Tax Digital.
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 garden room builders lose
- Staged payments, three or four per room, landing on different days across two quarters.
- The sparky and the plasterer on every build, which makes you a contractor under CIS with monthly returns.
- Glazing and cladding ordered to the job and paid to the supplier on a pro forma weeks before.
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 garden room builders ask
I pay a sparky and a plasterer on every room. What does that make me?
A contractor under CIS, because you're paying for construction work. Register, deduct from their labour (20% if they're registered, 30% if not), report it monthly. For Making Tax Digital their invoices are expenses in your totals.
Four stage payments per room. When is each one income?
Record each stage the day it's paid, with the date, and the quarterly running total is right. Your accountant can advise on year-end treatment of money received for unfinished work.
Does the room's full price count even though most of it is materials and subbies?
Yes. Qualifying income is before expenses. A £20,000 room is £20,000 of turnover; the £13,000 of materials and subbies is in your expense totals. That's why two rooms put you over £30,000.
Eight rooms a year with four stage payments each. Is that a lot of records?
Thirty-two income entries and the costs behind them. GOV.UK says each is a digital record with amount, date and category, and the quarterly update sends the category totals for the year so far, not the entries.
Can I send an update early, when a room completes?
Yes. GOV.UK says you can send updates more often than quarterly, and each covers the year so far. The dates 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May are the deadlines, not the only days you can file.
Can my accountant handle the Making Tax Digital side?
Yes. GOV.UK says an agent can sign you up and act for you. They'll need your income and expenses as digital records, amount, date and category, so the stage payments and the subbie invoices recorded on the day are what they send.
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)
