Tax, law and invoicing in the trades — United Kingdom
14 posts for this country. We write our own posts per country instead of translations — the source and the date it was checked sit under every one.
- Zirko Redaktion10 min read
The four VAT positions one UK dwelling can carry
A single domestic install can carry standard-rated, reduced-rated and zero-rated work and a reverse charge at the same time — and from 1 April 2027 one of those rates changes.
Zirko Redaktion4 min readInvoice for building work: stages, variations, retention
One construction job from first application to final account: the two contract dates, why a variation gets its own line, and why retention comes off after the VAT, never before.
Zirko Redaktion3 min readTrade invoice: the weekly run, in order
The Thursday billing run for a UK trade business: what to collect first, the VAT decision that belongs to the customer rather than the invoice, the labour split, and 30 days.
- Zirko Redaktion8 min read
The four clocks a UK plumbing business has to run
A UK plumbing business is governed by dates it did not choose: 12 months to the next gas safety check, 28 days to get the record to the tenant, 30 days to issue the VAT invoice.
- Zirko Redaktion11 min read
Competence is a legal duty on every building job in England
Part 2A of the Building Regulations 2010 came into force on 1 October 2023 and applies to all building work — and an enforcement notice can arrive ten years after completion.
- Zirko Redaktion11 min read
CIS gross payment status: the three tests and the £30,000
Gross payment status stops contractors deducting 20 per cent from your labour. The turnover bar is 30,000 pounds for a sole trader, and what loses it for most people is compliance.
- Zirko Redaktion11 min read
Payment notices and pay less notices: who owes what, and when
Under section 111 of the Construction Act the payer must pay the notified sum in full on or before the final date for payment, unless a valid pay less notice was served in time.
Zirko Redaktion10 min readThe Construction Industry Scheme: 20, 30 or nothing
CIS is not a tax of its own: it is money your contractor holds back from your labour and pays to HMRC on account of your tax bill. The deadline costs 100 pounds the day after it passes.
- Zirko Redaktion11 min read
Subcontractor or employee: why CIS registration decides nothing
A CIS registration is a deduction mechanism, not a status. HMRC says a contract must not be a contract of employment to be within the scheme, and status is the contractor's to consider.
- Zirko Redaktion8 min read
Gas Safe Register: what regulation 3 actually requires of you
The register is not a badge of quality. Regulation 3 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 makes membership of an HSE-approved class the condition of the work.
- Zirko Redaktion9 min read
The landlord gas safety record: nine items, twenty-eight days
A CP12 is the record required by regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998: nine prescribed contents, and 28 days to reach the tenant.
- Zirko Redaktion9 min read
Part P: which electrical jobs are notifiable, and how to sign off
Regulation 12(6A) names exactly three kinds of work in a dwelling that need building control: a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement, and a circuit changed in a special location.
- Zirko Redaktion9 min read
The VAT domestic reverse charge: when your invoice shows no VAT
Since 1 March 2021 a subcontractor billing a VAT-registered contractor for CIS work charges no VAT at all — the customer accounts for it. Four questions decide whether it applies.
- Zirko Redaktion10 min read
Flat rate, cash accounting or neither: choosing a VAT scheme
The Flat Rate Scheme cannot be used at all for supplies caught by the construction domestic reverse charge, and HMRC says cash accounting may not benefit a subcontractor either.
