Making Tax Digital · Groundworkers
Making Tax Digital for groundworkers: 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 groundworkers
A self-employed groundworker is over £30,000 of turnover on one decent job, because the digger hire, the concrete and the muck away are all in the price and all count. If the gross on your 2025 to 2026 invoices was over £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 groundworkers' numbers
A groundworker invoiced £132,000 in 2025 to 2026: foundations and drainage for two builders who deducted £9,000 of CIS, plus driveways and drainage for homeowners. £81,000 went on digger and dumper hire, concrete, aggregates, muck away and two labourers. HMRC's figure is £132,000, and over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 meant 6 April 2026.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £132,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £81,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £9,000
- What reached the bank
- £123,000
- HMRC's figure
- £132,000
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 groundworkers
Preparing the site and laying foundations is the first thing on GOV.UK's list of construction work, so almost everything a groundworker does is paid by a contractor with 20% deducted from the labour, and the self-employed drivers and labourers you pay make you a contractor for them. The Making Tax Digital figure is the gross on your invoices, plant and muck away 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 groundworkers lose
- Digger hire invoiced weekly, muck away by the load, concrete by the cube, none of it matched to the job.
- The labourers you pay, which makes you a contractor under CIS with monthly returns of your own.
- The builder's deduction statements, which prove £9,000 of tax already paid on your behalf.
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 groundworkers ask
Plant hire and muck away are most of my invoice. Is that really my turnover?
Yes. Turnover is counted before expenses, so a £24,000 foundations job is £24,000 of turnover even with £15,000 of plant, concrete and tipping inside it. Those costs go into your expense totals.
I deduct CIS from my labourers and have it deducted from me. How does the update handle both?
Your update carries income totals and expense totals. The money the builder paid you is income at the gross figure; what you paid your labourers is an expense. The CIS on both sides stays on the monthly CIS returns, as now.
Is a homeowner's driveway counted differently from a builder's foundations?
Only for CIS: a homeowner doesn't deduct, a contractor does. For Making Tax Digital both are self-employment income and add to the same turnover.
Do I have to send HMRC every digger hire invoice?
No. GOV.UK says the quarterly update sends totals for each expense category, not the invoices. Each hire is a digital record with amount, date and category, and you keep the original or a copy.
Who signs me up, me or the main contractor?
You, or your accountant as your agent. GOV.UK says you need to be registered for Self Assessment, have sent a return in the last two years, and you may be asked to confirm who you are on your phone. The contractor's CIS returns are separate.
What's the penalty if a quarterly update goes in late?
From 2027 to 2028, one point per late update and £200 at four, then £200 per further miss. A point drops away 24 months after it's given; at four points it takes 12 months of on-time filing plus anything outstanding from the previous 24 months to clear them. For a groundworker with heavy plant and material costs, the totals come from invoices already recorded, so the update is quick.
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)
