Being on CIS does not mean you are self-employed for insurance

Plenty of sites run on a simple belief: 'he's on CIS, so he's self-employed, so he's not my problem.' That belief can be expensive.

What CIS actually does

Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors take money from a subcontractor's pay and send it to HMRC. A contractor must deduct 20% for a registered subcontractor and 30% if the subcontractor is not registered.¹

That is all it does. It is a way of collecting tax.

Status is a separate question

GOV.UK describes a self-employed person as someone who runs their business for themselves and takes responsibility for its success or failure. Signs include putting in bids or quotes and submitting invoices.²

For employers' liability, HSE says tax status does not decide things. A person can be self-employed for tax and still count as an employee for insurance.³

Three quick tests

• Do they quote for the job, or get paid a day rate to do as they are told?
• Do they bring their own tools and materials?
• Could they send someone else in their place?

Our subcontractor status check walks you through the full list.