Contractors, IR35 & CIS
PSC contractors and CIS subcontractors working across Bristol, Severnside and the South-West.
Two contracting populations sit here, each with their own determination problem. PSC contractors on inside / outside-IR35 engagements with Bristol corporate and Severnside operators — the reforms shifted the determination burden onto end clients in 2017 (public sector) and 2021 (private sector medium & large), but the underlying rules and the financial difference between inside and outside remain stark. CIS subcontractors — trades and labour-only operators paid through the Construction Industry Scheme, where every payment lands net of 20% (verified) or 30% (unverified) deduction. We review each contract, document working practices, hold the SDS where appropriate, and on the CIS side we register subcontractors, pursue gross-payment status where eligible, file the monthly CIS300, and reconcile deductions against year-end CT or self-assessment so what was withheld actually credits through.
The shape of a
year with us.
Contract review on every new engagement — working practices documented, Status Determination Statement reviewed, evidence of mutuality (or its absence) collected from week one rather than reconstructed under enquiry. Monthly (CIS): subcontractor verifications run, CIS300 contractor return filed by the 19th, deduction statements issued to subcontractors. Quarterly: confirm the IR35 practice has held, no project drift toward inside-IR35 indicators; for CIS clients, gross-payment-status compliance test re-run before HMRC’s. Annually: salary / dividend split optimised for that year’s rates, CIS deductions credited through CT600 or SA100 properly, plus the personal tax return.
The mistakes a
generalist misses.
Each is something we’ve seen multiple times in inherited engagements — and something we now check for as a matter of course.
-
N° 01
An end-client SDS taken at face value without reviewing the underlying working practices — a determination is only as defensible as the evidence behind it.
-
N° 02
The ‘mutuality of obligation’ question conflated with the contractual right of substitution — both matter, separately, and inside-IR35 risk lives in either gap.
-
N° 03
CIS gross-payment status lapsing without warning — a single late tax payment in the qualifying period and HMRC withdraws it, restoring 20% deductions on every invoice for the next twelve months.
-
N° 04
CIS-VAT reverse-charge missed on construction services from March 2021 — subcontractors invoicing main contractors owe the VAT under reverse charge while the CIS deduction still applies on the labour element. Both rules at once trips up most bookkeeping setups.
-
N° 05
CIS deductions sitting on the books unclaimed — the subcontractor paid HMRC but never credited the deductions through the SA100 or CT600, leaving a five-figure asset stranded.
-
N° 06
Dividends paid quarterly out of habit, ignoring the dividend allowance now at £500 and the basic-rate band that the income-tax thresholds quietly froze.
-
N° 04
Corporation Tax
CT600s, R&D claims, group relief, capital allowances — handled properly.
-
N° 03
Self Assessment
For directors, partners, landlords and the comfortably self-employed.
-
N° 06
Payroll & PAYE
Monthly RTI, pension auto-enrolment, P11Ds, P60s — done.
-
N° 05
VAT Returns
Quarterly under MTD — with a quiet eye on partial exemption and flat-rate.
-
N° I
Sole Traders
For the comfortably self-employed.
-
N° II
Limited Companies
Owner-managed businesses, our largest cohort.
-
N° IV
Landlords
Buy-to-let, HMOs, FHLs — from Bristol student lets to Cotswold holiday cottages.
-
N° V
Startups & Investment
Pre-seed to Series A founders, with the EIS / SEIS, R&D and Innovate UK plumbing that comes with the territory.
-
N° VI
E-commerce & Digital
Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, marketplace sellers.