CISR12160 - The Scheme: contractors: monthly returns
Each month, contractors must send HMRC a complete return of all payments made in the preceding tax month to all subcontractors within the Scheme. All subcontractors must be included on the return regardless of whether they were paid
- gross
- net of the standard deduction, or
- net of the higher deduction.
Monthly returns must be submitted within 14 days of the end of the tax month to which they relate. Failure to meet the deadline for their submission will incur an automatic penalty of £100, with an additional £100 penalty for every block of 50 subcontractors above the first 50 shown on the return. For example,
| Number of subcontractors on return | Amount of penalty |
| 10 | £100 |
| 55 | £200 |
| 110 | £300 |
| 620 | £1,300 |
The return may be submitted on paper or electronically. If
contractors opt for the paper return, we will 'pre-populate' it
before we send it out. This means we will fill it out with whatever
information we already hold about subcontractors we have reason to
believe have been used by the contractor.
Nil returns are mandatory, so even if the contractor has paid
no subcontractors in the month, contractors must tell us or incur a
penalty. If contractors do not expect to pay subcontractors for a
number of months they can ask us to inhibit the issue of the
monthly return for up to six months.
For more information on the monthly return, please see
CISR60000 onwards.
