Making Tax Digital · Insulation installers
Making Tax Digital for insulation 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 insulation installers
A self-employed insulation installer on a retrofit contractor's books is paid through CIS, so the bank understates the year by a fifth. If the gross on your 2025 to 2026 statements 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 insulation installers' numbers
An insulation installer was paid £37,000 gross in 2025 to 2026, nearly all of it by a retrofit contractor that deducted £7,000 of CIS, plus a few loft jobs for homeowners. Costs were £5,600: PPE, blades, fixings and fuel. The bank shows £30,000. HMRC's figure is £37,000, so 6 April 2027.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £37,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £5,600
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £7,000
- What reached the bank
- £30,000
- HMRC's figure
- £37,000
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 insulation installers
Fitting insulation is building work and alterations, and most of it is paid by installer firms and contractors on retrofit schemes, who deduct 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. Your Making Tax Digital figure is the gross before any deduction.
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 insulation installers lose
- Properties measured and paid per square metre on the contractor's fortnightly statement.
- PPE, masks and blades bought on the way to site, paid in cash.
- The contractor's deduction statements, which prove £7,000 of tax already paid.
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 insulation installers ask
My bank total is almost exactly £30,000. Which figure decides it?
The gross on your statements, before the CIS deduction. GOV.UK counts qualifying income before expenses, and the deduction is tax paid in advance. £30,000 banked after 20% off is £37,500 invoiced, which is over.
The contractor supplies all the material. Is that still my turnover?
Only what you're paid is your turnover. If the contractor buys the insulation and pays you for labour, your turnover is the labour. If you buy it and charge for it, the whole amount is.
I work for three different installer firms. One business or three?
One. All your installation income is one self-employment, and the three firms' payments add together for the threshold and for the quarterly totals.
Does a quarterly update mean a quarterly tax bill?
No. GOV.UK says the update is totals for each income and expense category for the year so far, and nothing is paid with it. The return, sent through your software by 31 January after the tax year, is where the tax is worked out.
The contractor pays me on a fortnightly statement. How many records is that?
One per statement, with the gross paid, the CIS deducted and the date. GOV.UK says each digital record carries amount, date and category; 26 statements a year is 26 entries, and the quarterly update sends their totals.
I'm an installer with a PAYE job in winter. Do the wages count?
No. GOV.UK's qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses, and PAYE wages are left out. Only your self-employed installation work counts towards the £30,000 for 2025 to 2026.
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)
