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Making Tax Digital · Kitchen fitters

Making Tax Digital for kitchen fitters: 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 kitchen fitters

A self-employed kitchen fitter on a kitchen company's books is paid through CIS, so the bank shows 80% of the real figure, and a fitter supplying kitchens direct is over £30,000 of turnover on about three of them. 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 kitchen fitters' numbers

A kitchen fitter invoiced £39,000 in 2025 to 2026, fitting only, mostly for a kitchen company that deducted £7,000 of CIS. Costs were £4,800: fixings, silicone, blades, a new router and fuel. The bank shows £32,000, but HMRC's figure is £39,000, so 6 April 2027.

Invoiced, before expenses
£39,000
Materials, costs, subbies
£4,800
CIS taken off by contractors
£7,000
What reached the bank
£32,000
HMRC's figure
£39,000

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).

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CIS and kitchen fitters

Fitting a kitchen is alterations to a building, so a kitchen company or a builder paying you deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you direct don't. If you supply the units as well as fit them, the whole price is your turnover for Making Tax Digital, deducted or not.

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 kitchen fitters lose

  • Fitting fees paid by the kitchen company on a monthly statement, net of CIS.
  • Silicone, fixings and end panels bought on your card to finish a job the company's delivery missed.
  • Appliance and worktop money that went through you for a private job, which is income and expense both.

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 kitchen fitters ask

The kitchen company pays me net. What figure goes on my records?

The gross fitting fee, with the CIS deduction recorded alongside it. GOV.UK counts qualifying income before expenses, and the deduction is tax paid in advance. Your records should show both so the year-end figures are right.

If I supply a £12,000 kitchen, is that all my turnover?

Yes, if the customer paid you for it. The £12,000 is turnover and what you paid the supplier is an expense. If the customer paid the showroom and you only fitted it, only your fitting fee is turnover.

I'm under £30,000 on fitting fees alone. Am I out?

Only if your total self-employment and property income for 2025 to 2026 was under £30,000. Add any private supply and fit jobs and any rental income. Between £20,000 and £30,000 you're not in for April 2027, but over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 brings April 2028.

Who sends the quarterly update, me or the kitchen company?

You. The company reports what it paid you under CIS; your Making Tax Digital update is your own self-employment totals, sent from your software by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. GOV.UK says an agent can act for you if you'd rather.

Can I get an exemption because I only fit kitchens and don't do computers?

Only if you're digitally excluded. GOV.UK says you apply by phone or letter, explaining why you can't use software, and if it's granted you still do a Self Assessment return. Not being keen isn't the test; not being able to is.

Is there free Making Tax Digital software for a kitchen fitter?

There are free products, GOV.UK says, aimed at simple tax affairs and sometimes capped by transaction count. A kitchen fitter paid by one company a few times a month may fit under a cap; one supplying kitchens won't. Through InstaQuote, ANNA's business account gives sole traders MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year, and 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

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Tom · Founder · InstaQuote Ltd

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