Getting paid without tax taken off, and keeping it
Under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), contractors take 20% off your labour. With gross payment status they don't: see if you'd qualify, and what you'd keep each year.
Your answer
Enter your construction turnover for the last 12 months.
About this calculator
For builders and trades paid under the Construction Industry Scheme who want contractors to stop taking tax off their pay.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
To be paid without tax taken off (gross payment status) you must pass 3 tests. The business test: you do construction work in the UK and run the business through a bank account. The turnover test: at least £30,000 of construction turnover in the last 12 months, without VAT and materials, for a sole trader. A partnership or company needs £30,000 for each partner or director, or £100,000 for the whole business if that's lower. The compliance test: your tax returns and payments were on time over the last 12 months, apart from the small slips HMRC overlooks.
The tax taken off now is 20% of the labour on your invoices. It counts towards your tax bill, but gross status lets you keep that money in the business until the bill is due.
Worked example
You're likely to get gross payment status under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), so contractors would stop taking £8,000 a year off your pay and you'd keep it until your tax bill is due.
Sole trader · registered for CIS (20%) · last 12 months
| Your construction turnover in the last 12 months, without VAT and materials | £45,000 |
|---|---|
| Turnover needed: £30,000 for a sole trader | £30,000 |
| Turnover test: passed | Passed |
| Labour on your invoices a year (what CIS is taken from) | £40,000 |
| Taken off now at 20%, as you're registered for CIS | £8,000 |
| That's, each month | £667 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
I'm not registered for CIS. What's taken off then?
30%, not 20%. Registering is free and brings it down to 20% straight away. Applying for gross payment status also registers you.
Does gross status mean I pay less tax?
No. The tax is the same. You just pay it when your tax bill is due, not as each invoice is paid, so you need to put it aside.
Can HMRC take gross status away?
Yes. HMRC checks again every year, and can remove it if returns or payments are late.
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