Your CIS Experts

Unrivalled support for your construction, rail, engineering & energy recruitment services.

Experience Counts

We have been involved in the payment of CIS sub-contractors for many years and are proud to have an unrivalled compliance track record and an experienced payments team to look after you and your contractors.

Overview

How should CIS self-employment operate?

The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is a tax collection scheme which was created in 1997 to address Government concerns that tax was not being fully paid by many cash in hand self-employed workers within construction related sectors.

CIS subcontractors must therefore apply to HMRC to be self-employed for tax purposes and will be provided with a Unique Tax Reference (UTR). However, this does not mean workers are considered by HMRC to be genuinely self-employed.

To be considered by HMRC as appropriate to subcontract under CIS, workers must undertake a self-employment status assessment on every assignment, and the recruitment business must conclude that each role is suitable for a self-employed subcontractor.

If a recruitment business doesn’t assess this thoroughly, they are often at risk for any underpaid taxes under the Onshore Intermediaries Legislation 2014 as the “first intermediary” in a supply chain. It’s therefore critical that agencies and contractors take no chances and engage with a professional experienced business.

Once registered as self-employed, subcontractors can then have the option to be paid under CIS on construction roles which have been determined as suitable for self-employed workers.

The self-employed status of any subcontractor must first be verified with HMRC by the business intending to contract with the workers and pay them. This allows contractors to be taxed on their profits rather than under PAYE which for most workers is more tax efficient than PAYE. Crest Plus will only pay workers under CIS where the recruitment agency has indicated this solution is acceptable to them.

So, under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), contractors deduct money from subcontractors’ payments and pass it to HMRC. The CIS is therefore merely used to collect an amount of tax on account each time a subcontractor is paid. This is where our 20+ years of experience and credibility is invaluable in keeping both recruitment businesses and subcontractors themselves in a safe place whilst helping to ensure they are not overpaying tax or National Insurance.

Long-Term Partners

How we can help your business and your contractors.

For your business

Our expert team will work alongside your business to ensure CIS is properly and efficiently administered, supporting your consultants every step of the way.

Senior staff with long-term experience in CIS/self-employment
Retain the services of leading advisers in this specialist area
Financially stable – no need to worry about the security of your worker payments
We support all the largest recruitment businesses in this sector
We have been thoroughly audited on many occasions
Pride ourselves in delivering added-value advice & support
Training is available to your teams when required
You will be looked after by a dedicated Account Manager
You will be allocated a dedicated payments team member

For your contractors

We’re here to help your contractors get the most from the CIS scheme, providing first-class service and additional benefits.

Free self-employment status assessment to ensure CIS is a suitable option
Peace of mind – 100% compliance because we understand CIS so thoroughly
Paid on time, every time. Simple process means no delays
Simple, clear & easy registration & onboarding
Detailed pay illustrations from the outset
Access to our online portal to review & retrieve information
Support from our expert team
Market-leading personal accident insurance (including commute) included as standard
Access to 1000s of retail & travel savings with our exclusive rewards scheme
Access to mental & physical health support

Work With The Best

We have the in-depth knowledge of compliance you need.

We have a thorough review process that ensures workers are only placed in CIS roles if they’re legitimately able to do so. This means all parties in the supply chain have to be confident the worker is genuinely self-employed and this is confirmed with the end hirer.

If we have any concerns we’ll be in touch to ensure we’re basing our assessment on the correct information. This means you don’t need to worry about compliance, we’ll protect the whole supply chain from associated financial & reputational risks.