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Trades and building firms: 65 checked facts and figures, with sources
Each entry is the fact one of our guides rests on: a rule, a date, a price or a figure we worked out, with where it came from. Quote any of them; a link to the guide lets your reader check the working.
Getting paid
With £6,000 deducted at 20%, profit of £15,000 gives tax £486 and Class 4 £145.80, so £5,368.20 back. Profit of £30,000 gives £3,486 plus £1,045.80, so £1,468.20 back. Profit of £40,000 gives £5,486 plus £1,645.80, so £1,131.80 still to pay. Money stops coming back at a profit of about £35,647, where 26% of profit over £12,570 equals £6,000.
Source: GOV.UK, "What you must do as a CIS subcontractor: pay tax and claim back deductions" (sole traders report gross pay and deductions on the Self Assessment return and HMRC takes off the deductions; a refund of deductions during the year is described only where trading stops, on CIS40; tax owed paid by 31 January); our Class 4 guide for the 6% rate from £12,570 to £50,270. Read 10 October 2026.
We wrote ten questions from the rules set out in 8 of our guides; for 4 of the ten the answer that is in order is "no", so the check cannot be passed by ticking yes. The first asks: When a customer asks for extra work part-way through a job, do you give the price in writing and wait for a yes before you start it? Schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lists a term that lets the trader decide the price after the customer is bound. Give the price of each extra in writing, where a text or email is enough, and do not start it until the customer agrees.
Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 Part 1; GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery; GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers; Our chasing schedule, checked against GOV.UK's late payment pages; Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims; Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, paragraphs 3.1 to 3.4; HM Courts and Tribunals Service, leaflets EX321 and EX50; GOV.UK, County court judgments for debt; Limitation Act 1980, section 5; each rule is set out with its source in the guide the question links to. The test record is in tests/readiness/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: Getting paid check for trades firms: ten yes-or-no questions from quote to court judgment
A VAT invoice issued more than 14 days after the work was finished does not move the tax point, so the VAT is due for the day the work was done. On a job finished on 26 March 2026 and invoiced on 20 April 2026, the £480 of VAT belongs on the return for the quarter to 31 March, due by 7 May 2026, whatever date is typed on the invoice. HMRC's penalty for a deliberate and concealed inaccuracy is 30% to 100% of the tax at stake.
Source: GOV.UK "Invoicing and taking payment from customers", "Cash basis", "Sending a VAT Return", "Register for VAT" and "Late commercial payments"; HMRC VAT guide (Notice 700), sections 14 to 16; HMRC factsheet CC/FS7a (updated 21 July 2026); Value Added Tax Act 1994, section 6; Value Added Tax Regulations 1995, regulations 13 and 14; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 4; Limitation Act 1980, section 5; all read 2 October 2026. The example job is invented.
We wrote this questionnaire of 4 questions and 8 outcomes from the rules set out in 5 of our guides and the sources each outcome names. The four questions make 27 routes that end in eight outcomes. Who the customer is changes the outcome at one stage only: after reminders, a householder or sole trader gets a letter of claim by post with the protocol's forms and a 30-day wait, while a limited company gets a letter giving 14 days.
Source: Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, paragraph 1.4, read on justice.gov.uk 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery; Bank of England, Bank Rate; read 2 October 2026; Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, paragraphs 1.1 and 3.1 to 3.4, read on justice.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct, paragraph 6; GOV.UK, Late commercial payments; Bank of England, Bank Rate; read 2 October 2026; Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, paragraphs 3.4, 4.2, 4.4, 5.2 and 8.2, read on justice.gov.uk 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Make a court claim for money: court fees, read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Make a court claim for money: after you make your claim, read 2 October 2026; HM Courts and Tribunals Service, leaflets EX321 and EX50 (updated 13 July 2026); GOV.UK, County court judgments for debt; read 2 October 2026; each outcome names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: My invoice is unpaid: which step comes next? Four questions, from reminder to court
We built the schedule from the Credit Controller job in our trades workflow pack, and checked the legal claims in it against GOV.UK on 2026-10-01: statutory interest and fixed fees apply to business customers only.
Source: The Credit Controller job description in our trades workflow pack (2026-10-01); GOV.UK late commercial payments pages, read 2026-10-01.
Free tool: How to chase an unpaid invoice as a builder: three letters and when to send them
We ran 15 months of invented turnover through the rolling test; the firm first went over on the 12 months to December at £90,900, so it had to register by 30 January with VAT starting on 1 February.
Source: GOV.UK, "VAT registration: when to register", read 2026-10-01 (threshold £90,000; register within 30 days of the end of the month you went over; effective date the first day of the second month after). The turnover figures are invented. Our sums are in tests/gaffer/vat-output.txt.
Full guide: When a tradesperson has to register for VAT: the rolling 12 months, worked through
We built the calculator from the 1998 Act and the 2002 rate order and checked it against our saved sums; a £2,400 invoice 60 days late comes to £46.36 interest plus a £70 fixed fee, or 77p a day.
Source: Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 4, and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 3) Order 2002, article 4, both read on legislation.gov.uk 2026-10-01; GOV.UK "Charge interest on late commercial payments"; Bank of England Bank Rate history, read 2026-10-01; our test run is saved in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: Late payment interest calculator for UK trades: what a late business customer owes you
We built the invoice maker against GOV.UK's list of what an invoice must include and HMRC's VAT invoice rules; our test invoice (£950 labour, £240 materials, reverse charge at 20%, CIS at 20%) comes to £1,000 to pay, with £238 VAT for the contractor to account for and a £190 deduction.
Source: GOV.UK "Invoicing and taking payment from customers: what invoices must include", HMRC VAT Notice 700/21 section 4 (VAT invoices) and the VAT reverse charge technical guide, all read 2026-10-01; our test is saved in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: Free invoice template for electricians and builders (UK), with CIS and reverse charge
We checked the common shortcut on a £1,200 total: taking 20% off gives £240 of VAT, but the true VAT is £200 (one sixth), so the mistake overstates the VAT by £40 on every £1,200.
Source: Our sums, saved in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt; VAT rates from GOV.UK "VAT rates", read 2026-10-01. The forum thread "Calculating 20% VAT content of an invoice?" on ElectriciansForums.net had about 33,000 views when read on 2026-10-01.
Free tool: VAT calculator: add 20% or take the VAT out of a total, with the one-sixth rule
We priced the route for a £2,400 unpaid invoice: the county court fee is £115, and against a business customer 60 days late you can add £46.36 interest and a £70 fixed fee, so the claim is worth more than it costs to bring.
Source: GOV.UK "Make a court claim for money: court fees", the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (justice.gov.uk), the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and regulation 20 of the Building Regulations 2010 as explained in local authority Part P guidance, all read 2026-10-01; our sums are saved in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt.
Full guide: Customer won't pay for work done? What a UK tradesperson can do, step by step
A letter of claim to a householder or sole trader must go by post with the protocol's information sheet, reply form and financial statement form, and you cannot start a court claim until 30 days after the date at the top of the letter. On a £2,400 invoice, court interest at 8% a year is about 53p a day and the court fee is £115.
Source: Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (justice.gov.uk), paragraphs 1.1, 1.4, 3.1 to 3.4, 4.2, 5.2, 7.1 and 8.2; Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols, paragraphs 6 and 16; GOV.UK "Make a court claim for money" (court fees and interest); all read 1 October 2026.
The court will not enforce a judgment unless you ask it to, and each method has its own fee. In the fees leaflet updated on 13 July 2026 a county court warrant of control costs £96 and an attachment of earnings order, a third-party debt order or a charging order costs £139. On a £2,400 invoice the claim fee of £115 plus a £96 warrant is £211 of fees, added to the debt but not refunded if nothing is recovered.
Source: GOV.UK "Make a court claim for money" (court fees, after you make your claim, enforce a judgment); HM Courts and Tribunals Service "Civil court fees (EX50)", updated 13 July 2026, "What to do if you have a judgment but the defendant has not paid (EX321)", "Apply for a warrant of control" and "Attachment of earnings order guidance"; GOV.UK "County court judgments for debt"; all read 1 October 2026. The example debt is invented.
We ran the statutory formula (8% plus Bank Rate of 3.75%) on four invoice sizes and saved the output; a £2,400 invoice 60 days late adds £46.36 interest plus a £70 fixed fee.
Source: GOV.UK, "Charge interest on late commercial payments" and "Claim debt recovery costs", read 2026-10-01; Bank Rate 3.75% from the Bank of England, read 2026-10-01; our sums are saved in tests/gaffer/calc-output.txt.
Full guide: What late payment interest can a builder actually claim? Worked sums
Quotes and enquiries
Under section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the price information a trader gives a householder is a term of the contract, and a change to it is not effective unless expressly agreed. On a bathroom quoted at £4,800, two extras agreed by text (£360 and £285) make a final invoice of £5,445, while £470 of dearer tiles and extra labour that nobody agreed stays with the firm.
Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 50 and 51 and Schedule 2 Part 1, paragraphs 14 and 15; Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulation 10 and Schedule 2; Limitation Act 1980, section 5; all on legislation.gov.uk. Business Companion, "Supplying services" (Chartered Trading Standards Institute, last reviewed June 2026). All read 2 October 2026. The example job and its prices are invented.
We wrote this questionnaire of 5 questions and 8 outcomes from the rules set out in 3 of our guides and the sources each outcome names. Four of the eight outcomes are settled before the questionnaire asks whether work had started. Only a householder who agreed the job away from your premises, was given the cancellation information and cancelled inside the 14 days reaches that question, and what they owe then turns on whether they asked you in writing to start early.
Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 5, 27 and 29; Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 Part 1; read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 6(1)(e) and 28(1)(e) and (2), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 31, 34 and 36(6), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30; Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 Part 1; read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 28(1)(b), 29 and 34, read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 34 and 36(1) and (6), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36(1) and (2), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 34 and 36(4) and (5), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026; each outcome names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
We read the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013: if a householder agrees a job in their own home and is not given cancellation information, they can cancel for up to 12 months and 14 days and owe nothing for work already done (regulations 31 and 36).
Source: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulations 31 and 36, read on legislation.gov.uk 2026-10-01. The example prices are illustrative, not market rates.
Full guide: How to write a quote for a job: a worked electrical example and the cancellation trap
A tradesperson who wants £45,000 a year before tax, has £12,000 of business costs, works 46 weeks of five days and loses three days a month to quoting and paperwork can bill 194 days, not 230. With 10% added for bad debts and quiet weeks, the day rate is £323.20 before VAT, or £40.40 an hour over an eight-hour day.
Source: Our own arithmetic, shown in full on the page and checked by hand; VAT at the standard rate of 20% (GOV.UK VAT rates, read 2026-10-01). The test record is in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: Day rate calculator for self-employed trades: what to charge a day to earn what you need
We followed the Quote Writer job description in our trades workflow pack on a four-line invented site note for a consumer bathroom refit and drafted an itemised quote with exclusions, payment terms and a deposit line; the full output is reproduced below.
Source: The Quote Writer job description in our trades workflow pack (2026-10-01). The customer, address and prices in the test are invented. No real quote was sent.
Free tool: Quote follow-up template for builders: the day 3 and day 7 messages
Under section 57 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a term that excludes your liability for work not done with reasonable care and skill is not binding on a householder, and Schedule 2 lists a "disproportionately high" cancellation charge among the terms that may be regarded as unfair. For a business customer with no agreed payment date, GOV.UK says payment is late after 30 days.
Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015 sections 49 to 52, 57 and 62 and Schedule 2 Part 1; Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 regulations 10, 28, 29, 30 and 36, all read on legislation.gov.uk 2026-10-01. GOV.UK "Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery", read 2026-10-01.
Software and costs
Read on 1 October 2026, an upper tier waste carrier registration in England costs £191.02 and lasts three years, and the free lower tier does not cover construction or demolition waste. For a three-person heating firm registering for the first time, the waste carrier fee, Gas Safe for two engineers, two CSCS cards with their tests, the ICO fee and the Companies House confirmation statement come to £844.26, then £318.02 in an ordinary later year.
Source: GOV.UK "Register or renew as a waste carrier, broker or dealer"; Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, Part 8; Natural Resources Wales waste carrier pages; Gas Safe Register "Registration fees" for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 and its renewal page; CSCS "Applying for cards", "Labourer" and "About" pages; CITB "About the HS&E test"; ICO "Guide to the data protection fee"; Companies House fees, updated 25 September 2026; NICEIC "Join us"; all read 1 October 2026. The example firm is invented.
On the example hours for a small trades firm (25.5 office hours a week, 17.5 of them on six jobs a tool can prepare, a quarter of each kept for checking), 13.1 hours a week could be handed over: 51% of the total, costing £9,056 a year at £15 an hour over 46 weeks.
Source: Arithmetic on the hours entered; the checking share is our stated assumption and can be changed. Rules behind what is drafted: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 31 and 36; HMRC Construction Industry Scheme guidance; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998
Read on 1 October 2026, ChatGPT Plus is £20 a month including VAT and uses your chats for training unless you opt out, while ChatGPT Business is £18 a user a month before VAT (£15 on annual billing), starts at 2 users and is not trained on by default. Google Workspace Business Starter, which includes Gemini in Gmail, is £5.90 a user a month before tax on a one-year commitment.
Source: ChatGPT pricing page and its UK price data, OpenAI help page on model training and OpenAI enterprise privacy page; Claude pricing page and Anthropic privacy centre (consumer and commercial articles); Microsoft 365 Copilot UK pricing page and Microsoft Learn privacy page; Google Workspace UK pricing page and its generative AI privacy hub; ICO Guidance on AI and data protection; Electrical Times report of the HeyBRB survey. All read in a browser render on 1 October 2026. Desk comparison only; we did not test the tools against each other.
At 20 leads a month and one won in four, we worked out £80 per won job on MyBuilder, £90 on Bark and £119 on Rated People at mid-range published prices; Checkatrade ranges from £16 to £250 per job depending on its fee and how many jobs you win.
Source: Platform prices are third-party reports, read 2026-10-01 (Swiftlead, LocalAdder, Local Search North); Checkatrade's own page refused our request. Sums saved in tests/gaffer/calc-output.txt. The 20 leads and 1-in-4 win rate are our assumptions, not measurements.
Full guide: Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark or Rated People: what a won job really costs
We priced a nine-person firm needing four logins from both pricing pages on 2026-10-01: Tradify Pro for four users is £1,776 a year against £708 for ServiceM8 Growing, and over three years the gap is £3,204.
Source: Tradify UK pricing page and ServiceM8 UK pricing page, both read 2026-10-01; sums saved in tests/gaffer/calc-output.txt. Desk comparison only: we did not sign up for either trial.
Full guide: Tradify vs ServiceM8 for a nine-person trades firm: the real yearly cost
For a sole trader who is not VAT registered, a normal year at list price costs £84 on Xero Simple, £120 on QuickBooks Sole Trader Plus and £190 on FreeAgent paid yearly, read from each vendor's pricing page on 1 October 2026. Xero Simple is capped at 10 invoices, and a trader who needs Xero Grow to lift the cap pays £468 a year.
Source: Xero UK pricing page and Simple plan page, QuickBooks UK pricing page and FreeAgent pricing page, each read in a browser render on 2026-10-01. GOV.UK "Choose the right software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax", read 2026-10-01. Desk comparison only; we did not sign up for any of them.
Rules and paperwork
Accident on Monday 2 November 2026. Off until Monday 9 November: days 3 to 8 November are 6 days, so record only. Back on Tuesday 10 November: 7 days (3 to 9 November), still not more than 7. Back on Wednesday 11 November: 8 days (3 to 10 November), reportable, and 2 November plus 15 days is 17 November. A Friday 6 November accident with a return on Monday 16 November counts 9 days (7 to 15 November) because the two weekends count, and the date 15 days on is 21 November.
Source: HSE, Types of reportable incidents - RIDDOR (https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/types-of-reportable-incidents.htm): over-7-day incapacitation is more than 7 consecutive days, the period does not include the day of the accident but does include weekends and rest days, and the report must be made within 15 days of the accident; over-3-day accidents are recorded, with the accident book enough. Read 30 October 2026.
On a 37.5-hour week, £8 an hour is £15,600 a year; a standard employee would add £1,590.00 of employer NI ((15,600 - 5,000) x 15%), an apprentice under 25 adds £0. At £10.85 an hour (£21,157.50) the saving is £2,423.63; at £12.71 (£24,784.50) it is £2,967.68. The £50,270 threshold is 2.03 times the £12.71 wage (50,270 / 24,784.50), so none of these wages reaches it.
Source: GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027): secondary threshold £96 a week, £417 a month, £5,000 a year; employer rate 15% for category A; apprentice upper secondary threshold (apprentice under 25) £967 a week, £4,189 a month, £50,270 a year, category H at 0% up to and including it and 15% above. Hourly rates from GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates. Read 29 October 2026.
At £700 a week, 6 weeks x £630 = £3,780 plus 33 weeks x £194.32 = £6,412.56 gives £10,192.56 over 39 weeks. At £250 a week, 6 x £225 = £1,350 plus £6,412.56 gives £7,762.56. At £140 a week, 90% is £126, below the flat rate for all 39 weeks, so 39 x £126 = £4,914.
Source: GOV.UK, Maternity pay and leave: Pay (https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay) and Eligibility (https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/eligibility): SMP for up to 39 weeks; 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks; then £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower; tax and National Insurance deducted; employee must earn on average at least £129 a week and have worked for the employer continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the qualifying week, the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Read 28 October 2026.
At £560 a week, 90% is £504, so the £194.32 rate applies and 2 weeks = £388.64. The two rates meet at £215.91 a week (194.32 / 0.9). A part-timer on £150 gets 90% = £135 a week, £270 for 2 weeks. Reclaiming 92% of £388.64 gives £357.55, leaving £31.09 with you; topping the labourer up to full pay would cost 2 x (560 - 194.32) = £731.36.
Source: GOV.UK, Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave: pay (https://www.gov.uk/employers-paternity-pay-leave/pay): £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower; 1 or 2 weeks; leave cannot start before the birth and must finish within 52 weeks; tax and National Insurance deducted; usually 92% reclaimable, 109% under Small Employers' Relief. GOV.UK, eligibility (https://www.gov.uk/employers-paternity-pay-leave/eligibility): 26 weeks' continuous employment up to the qualifying week (15th week before the due date) and at least £129 gross a week over an 8-week relevant period. Read 27 October 2026.
At £560 a week, 2 years' service at age 30 gives 2 weeks = £1,120, 5 years gives 5 weeks = £2,800 and 10 years gives 10 weeks = £5,600. A foreman on £900 a week is capped at £751, so 10 years gives £7,510, not £9,000: £1,490 less. The ceiling of £22,530 is 30 weeks x £751.
Source: GOV.UK, Redundancy pay (https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/redundancy-pay): an employee normally qualifies after 2 years' service; half a week's pay for each full year under 22, one week's for each full year aged 22 to under 41, one and a half weeks' for each full year aged 41 or older; service capped at 20 years; weekly pay is the 12-week average before notice, capped at £751 for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026; maximum £22,530. Read 26 October 2026.
At £560 a week (40 hours at £14), the statutory minimum notice is 1 week = £560 for under 2 years, 2 weeks = £1,120 at 2 years, 5 weeks = £2,800 at 5 years, 7 weeks = £3,920 at 7 years, and 12 weeks = £6,720 at 12 years or more, including 15 years.
Source: GOV.UK, Redundancy: your rights, notice periods (https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods): the employer must give at least one week's notice if employed between one month and 2 years; one week's notice for each year if employed between 2 and 12 years; 12 weeks' notice if employed for 12 years or more; an employer may give more than the statutory minimum but cannot give less; the page does not state a statutory notice period the employee must give and says to check the contract. Read 24 October 2026.
The legal maximum civil penalty is £60,000 per illegal worker, so 1 worker = £60,000, 3 = 3 x £60,000 = £180,000 and 5 = 5 x £60,000 = £300,000; and a starter who leaves on 31 August 2027 means the copies are kept until 31 August 2029 (2 years after the last day).
Source: GOV.UK, Check a job applicant's right to work (https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work): you must check that an applicant is allowed to work in the UK before you employ them; you can use a share code online, check original documents with the applicant present, or use an identity service provider with identity document validation technology; copies must be kept for the length of employment and 2 years after; record the date of the check; time-limited rights must be rechecked before they expire; biometric residence cards and permits can no longer be accepted, ask for a share code. Also legislation.gov.uk, The Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2024, SI 2024/82 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/82/made): article 2 substitutes £60,000 for £20,000 in the 2008 Order; it does not apply to a contravention that occurred solely before it came into force. Read 23 October 2026.
At £110 a day, 28 days of paid holiday for a five-day employee is 28 x £110 = £3,080; a four-day apprentice gets 4 x 5.6 = 22.4 days = £2,464; a three-day part-timer gets 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days = £1,848; and a six-day week is 6 x 5.6 = 33.6, cut to the 28-day cap.
Source: GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement (https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights): almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year; most people on a 5-day week get at least 28 days; entitlement is limited to 28 days (a 6-day week is still 28); part-time workers with regular hours get at least 5.6 weeks, for example 3 days a week gives at least 16.8 days; irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue leave from hours worked; bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave and an employer can count them within the 5.6 weeks; employers can offer more than the legal minimum. Read 22 October 2026.
If a firm employs someone from day one with no cover, the maximum fine at £2,500 a day is 7 x £2,500 = £17,500 after one week, 30 x £2,500 = £75,000 after 30 days and 90 x £2,500 = £225,000 after 90 days; add the £1,000 possible fine for not displaying the certificate and a 30-day gap has a ceiling of £76,000.
Source: GOV.UK, Employers' liability insurance (https://www.gov.uk/employers-liability-insurance): cover of at least £5 million from an authorised insurer; needed as soon as you become an employer; fine of up to £2,500 every day you are not properly insured; fine of £1,000 for not displaying the certificate or showing it to inspectors; not needed if you only employ a family member or someone based outside England, Scotland and Wales. Read 21 October 2026.
For six employees (2 joiners at £140, 2 labourers at £60, 2 other building workers at £120) the flat rates total £640 a year. At the 20% basic rate the relief is 2 x £28 + 2 x £12 + 2 x £24 = £56 + £24 + £48 = £128 a year, and £640 over the current year plus four previous years if every figure was the same each year and each person paid at least that much tax.
Source: HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM32712 on GOV.UK (flat rate deductions fixed by the Treasury from 2008 to 2009 onwards: building industry joiners and carpenters £140, cement works, roofing felt and asphalt labourers £80, labourers and navvies £60, all other workers £120) and the GOV.UK pages on tax relief for employees' uniforms, work clothing and tools (current year and 4 previous years; no evidence needed for a flat rate; nothing to claim if the employer repays in full; relief cannot exceed the tax paid; a £60 claim at 20% gives £12). Read 20 October 2026.
For 14,000 business miles in one tax year the tax-free amount is 10,000 x 55p + 4,000 x 25p = £6,500, but the National Insurance qualifying amount is 14,000 x 55p = £7,700. A flat 55p on all 14,000 miles (£7,700) leaves £1,200 above the tax figure to be reported and taxed through payroll with no NI due; a flat 45p (£6,300) is £200 short for tax, worth £40 of relief at 20% to the employee. 9,000 miles at 45p instead of 55p is £900 less, worth £180 of tax relief at 20%.
Source: GOV.UK, "Expenses and benefits: business travel mileage" rules for tax page (approved rates for cars and vans 55p from 6 April 2026, 45p before; 25p over 10,000 miles; miles counted per tax year across all vehicles; payments below the approved amount need no reporting and the employee can claim Mileage Allowance Relief; payments above it are reported on P11D or added to pay and taxed) and the rules for National Insurance page (55p on all business miles for NI; excess treated as earnings for Class 1; no Mileage Allowance Relief for NI). Read 19 October 2026.
Over 17 weeks the 48-hour average allows 816 hours in total. Ten weeks at 55 hours and seven at 38 come to 816 hours, exactly 48.0 on average, so the crew is on the limit. Eleven weeks at 55 and six at 38 come to 833 hours, 49.0 on average and 17 hours over. After 14 weeks at 40 hours (560), a three-week push can run to 256 hours, 85.3 a week, before the average is breached (we calculated these ourselves).
Source: GOV.UK, Maximum weekly working hours, read 16 October 2026; GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work, read 16 October 2026.
On £28,000 a year the pension band is £28,000 less £6,240, which is £21,760. The minimum is 3% from you, £652.80, and 5% from the employee, £1,088, making £1,740.80 a year. On £10,000 the band is £3,760 and the employer's 3% is £112.80. On £50,270 or more the band tops out at £44,030 and your 3% is £1,320.90.
Source: GOV.UK, "Workplace pensions: employers' responsibilities" and "Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay" (staff aged 22 to State Pension age earning at least £10,000 a year and working in the UK must be enrolled; duties start when the first member of staff starts; minimum contributions from April 2019 are 3% employer, 5% employee, 8% total; earnings counted between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax). Read 14 October 2026.
At £8 an hour a 37.5-hour week is £300 and a 52-week year is £15,600. The same hours at the 18 to 20 rate of £10.85 are £406.88 a week (£21,157.50 a year) and at the 21 and over rate of £12.71 are £476.63 a week (£24,784.50 a year). Moving a 19-year-old from the apprentice rate to the 18 to 20 rate adds £106.88 a week, £5,557.50 a year.
Source: GOV.UK, "National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates" (rates from 1 April 2026: 21 and over £12.71, 18 to 20 £10.85, under 18 £8, apprentice £8; apprentice rate applies if aged under 19, or aged 19 or over and in the first year of the apprenticeship; rates change each 1 April). Read 13 October 2026.
At 55p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p after: 8,000 miles is £4,400, 10,000 is £5,500, 14,000 is £6,500 (10,000 at 55p plus 4,000 at 25p) and 20,000 is £8,000. The 20,000-mile year averages 40p a mile. At the old 45p rate 14,000 miles would have been £5,500, so the new rate adds £1,000.
Source: GOV.UK, "Simplified expenses for vehicles" (cars and goods vehicles 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles then 25p, 2026 to 2027; 45p before 6 April 2026; motorcycles 24p; not for a vehicle already claimed with capital allowances; once chosen, continue while the vehicle is used). Read 11 October 2026.
The flat rate starts at 25 hours a month, which is 5 hours 46 minutes a week (25 × 12 ÷ 52 = 5.77). Six hours a week is about 26 hours a month and £10, £120 a year. Twelve hours a week is about 52 hours and £18, £216 a year. Twenty-four hours a week is about 104 hours and £26, £312 a year. At 20% income tax those save £24, £43.20 and £62.40, and the step from 50 to 51 hours a month adds £96 a year of expenses.
Source: GOV.UK, Simplified expenses: working from home (25 to 50 hours a month £10; 51 to 100 hours £18; 101 hours and more £26; the flat rate covers home running costs and not telephone or internet, which can be claimed as the business share of actual costs; actual costs can be used instead of the flat rate). Read 9 October 2026.
A full-time hire on £14 an hour (40 hours, 52 weeks) is paid £29,120 a year. Employer National Insurance is 15% of the £24,120 above the £5,000 threshold, which is £3,618. The £10,500 Employment Allowance covers that in full and leaves £6,882, so the first two such hires cost £0 in employer National Insurance and a third would owe £354 (3 × £3,618 = £10,854, less £10,500). Without the allowance the hire costs £32,738 a year before pension and holiday cover.
Source: GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (employer Class 1 National Insurance 15% above the secondary threshold of £96 a week, £417 a month, £5,000 a year; Employment Allowance £10,500); GOV.UK, Employment Allowance: check if you are eligible (business or public body, less than half of work in the public sector; exclusions for a company whose only employee liable for secondary Class 1 is its sole director, for domestic or household work, and for off-payroll IR35 earnings). Read 8 October 2026.
On £5,000 of labour and £3,000 of materials, a normal VAT invoice is £9,600 and, after 20% CIS on the labour, the contractor pays £8,600. Under the reverse charge the invoice is £8,000 and the payment is £7,000. The subcontractor receives £1,600 less cash but also has £1,600 less VAT to pay HMRC, so the job is worth the same; what changes is that the VAT is never in the subcontractor's bank account.
Source: GOV.UK, VAT domestic reverse charge technical guide (conditions, end user and intermediary written notification, the 5% disregard, invoice wording, zero-rated work; last updated 18 September 2024); GOV.UK, VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services (last updated 24 September 2020). Both read 7 October 2026.
Take a van at £24,000 excluding VAT, 80% business use, so £19,200 is claimed. On 2026-27 bands (allowance £12,570, 20% to £50,270, 40% above) a tradesperson with £45,000 profit pays (45,000 - 12,570) x 20% = £6,486 before and (25,800 - 12,570) x 20% = £2,646 after, saving £3,840. With £62,000 profit the tax is £7,540 + (62,000 - 50,270) x 40% = £4,692, so £12,232, falling to (42,800 - 12,570) x 20% = £6,046, saving £6,186. The van costs £24,000 either way, so the claim returns 16% to 26% of the price in income tax.
Source: GOV.UK, "Capital allowances" (gov.uk/capital-allowances), "Annual Investment Allowance" (gov.uk/capital-allowances/annual-investment-allowance) and "Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances" (gov.uk/income-tax-rates), all read 6 October 2026. The van, the two profits and the sums are ours and ignore National Insurance, VAT, Scottish rates and any other income. We could not confirm from the pages we read how cash basis treats vans and tools (the cash basis pages we fetched did not say, and the capital allowances page says sole traders on cash basis can claim capital allowances only on cars), nor how a van on finance is treated, so check those with HMRC or an accountant.
Class 4 on £30,000 of profit is £1,045.80 ((30,000 - 12,570) x 6%), on £50,270 it is £2,262.00, and on £60,000 it is £2,456.60 because only the £9,730 above £50,270 is charged at 2%. Voluntary Class 2 for a year at £3.65 a week is £189.80, and profit of £7,105 or more is credited without paying it.
Source: GOV.UK, Self-employed National Insurance rates (Class 2 at £3.65 a week, small profits threshold £7,105, Class 4 at 6% from £12,570 to £50,270 and 2% above, tax year 2026 to 2027). Read 6 October 2026.
We counted the days between GOV.UK's rule for keeping self-employed records (5 years after the 31 January deadline) and the six-year contract limit in section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. A job finished on 6 April 2026, the first day of the 2026 to 2027 tax year, has its tax records covered until 31 January 2033, which is 300 days after its claim period ends on 6 April 2032. A job finished on 5 April 2027, the last day of that tax year, has its tax records end on 31 January 2033 but its claim period run to 5 April 2033, so the paperwork stops 64 days too early.
Source: Limitation Act 1980 (England and Wales) sections 5, 8, 14A and 14B on legislation.gov.uk; GOV.UK, "Business records if you're self-employed" (how long to keep your records). All read 2026-10-06. The Act applies in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own limits, which we have not read for this page. General information, not legal advice.
Take three invented weekend tradespeople with £6,000 of income each. With £400 of expenses the allowance wins: £6,000 - £1,000 = £5,000 taxable profit against £6,000 - £400 = £5,600, so £600 less. With £1,000 of expenses the two methods tie at £5,000. With £1,800 of expenses, expenses win: £6,000 - £1,800 = £4,200 against £5,000, so £800 less taxable profit. The break-even is always the allowance itself, £1,000 of expenses.
Source: GOV.UK, "Tax-free allowances on property and trading income" (gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income), read 6 October 2026. The three tradespeople and the sums are ours. We could not confirm from that page how the allowance interacts with CIS deductions taken by a contractor, nor how it applies to a mix of employed and self-employed work, so check those with HMRC.
On GOV.UK's rates, 14,000 business miles in 2026-27 gives (10,000 x 55p) + (4,000 x 25p) = £5,500 + £1,000 = £6,500, against £5,500 at the 45p rate that applied before 6 April 2026, a difference of £1,000. At 8,000 miles the figures are £4,400 and £3,600, a difference of £800. The flat rate beats actual costs only if the van's real running costs for business use come in under those totals.
Source: GOV.UK, "Simplified expenses if you're self-employed: vehicles" (gov.uk/simpler-income-tax-simplified-expenses/vehicles), read 6 October 2026. The mileages and the sums are ours; the two vans are invented. We could not confirm from that page how the rate applies to a van also used privately beyond saying you claim business miles, nor how it applies in a partnership, so check those with HMRC.
We ran the turnover test on a sole trader who invoiced £46,800 including VAT, which is £39,000 before VAT; with £11,500 of materials on it the figure is £27,500, which fails the £30,000 line by £2,500. On £30,000 of labour the 20% deduction holds back £6,000 a year, and a partnership of four with £25,000 each passes on the £100,000 whole-partnership test although no partner reaches £30,000.
Source: GOV.UK "What you must do as a CIS subcontractor", pages "Gross payment status" and "Annual review", and "What is the Construction Industry Scheme", all read 2026-10-05. The invoice and partnership figures in the examples are invented; the method is HMRC's.
Take a £4,800 application for payment sent on 31 October 2026 under the default Scheme: it falls due on 7 November, the contractor's payment notice is due by 12 November, a pay less notice by 17 November, and the final date for payment is 24 November (7 + 5 = 12, 7 + 17 = 24, 24 - 7 = 17). If the contractor sends nothing and you send your own notice 3 days late, the final date moves to 27 November. We worked these dates by hand from the statute and the Scheme.
Source: Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, sections 106, 108, 110A and 110B, and the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, Part II paragraphs 2 to 10 as amended, all read on legislation.gov.uk on 5 October 2026. Section 111 itself did not load when we tried; the pay less notice timing is taken from paragraph 10 of the Scheme.
We worked the switch from 0% to 5% on an £11,000 heat pump job. Quoted at "£11,000 including VAT" and finished after 1 April 2027, the installer keeps £10,476.19 and pays £523.81 VAT out of its own margin. A 25% deposit invoiced and paid before the change keeps £2,750 at 0%, so VAT on the job falls from £550 to £412.50. On 2026-10-05 there were 177 days left of the zero rate.
Source: HMRC VAT Notice 708/6, Energy-saving materials and heating equipment (sections 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7, 2.19 and 2.22, last updated 31 January 2024); HMRC VAT Notice 700, The VAT guide (sections 14.2, 14.2.2, 14.3 and 30); Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 88 on legislation.gov.uk; HMRC VAT Time of Supply manual VATTOS2280 and VATTOS7220. All read 2026-10-05.
We ran one £3,800 invoice (£3,000 labour, £800 materials) through every CIS status; a registered subcontractor is paid £3,200, an unregistered one £2,900, a gross one £3,800, and under the reverse charge none of the £760 VAT changes hands.
Source: GOV.UK "What you must do as a CIS contractor: make deductions and pay subcontractors" and "VAT reverse charge technical guide", read 2026-10-01; our test run is saved in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: CIS deduction calculator: what the contractor keeps and what you get paid
We checked the dates against NICEIC and the Building Regulations duty: Amendment 4 was published on 15 April 2026, the previous edition is withdrawn on 15 October 2026, and notifiable work must reach the occupier and building control within 30 days of completion regardless of payment.
Source: NICEIC "Understanding BS 7671:2018+A4:2026", read 2026-10-01; regulation 20 of the Building Regulations 2010 as set out in local authority Part P guidance (e.g. East Lindsey District Council guidance note), read 2026-10-01.
We ran HMRC's test on a sole-trader electrician turning over £68,000 with £41,000 profit: profit is under £50,000, but qualifying income is turnover, so he has been in MTD since 6 April 2026 and his second quarterly update is due 7 November 2026.
Source: GOV.UK "Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax", "Work out your qualifying income" and "Send quarterly updates", all read 2026-10-01. ElectriciansForums.net MTD software thread views read 2026-10-01.
Full guide: Making Tax Digital for sole-trader trades: are you in, and what is due on 7 November
Since 6 April 2026 statutory sick pay is due from the first full day off sick, at £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings if that is lower. On a five-day week that is £24.65 a day, so a three-day absence that used to fall inside the unpaid waiting days now costs the firm £73.95.
Source: GOV.UK "Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): employer guide"; HMRC "Statutory Sick Pay: manually calculate your employee's payments" (updated 6 April 2026) and "Statutory Sick Pay: how different employment types affect what you pay"; business.gov.uk "Your Sick Pay Rights" (updated 30 July 2026); all read 1 October 2026. The wages and the absence figures in the examples are invented.
Full guide: Statutory sick pay from day one: what it costs a small trades firm since 6 April 2026
On a new-build house a VAT-registered subcontractor zero-rates labour and building materials and the reverse charge does not apply, but CIS is still deducted from the labour. On our example invoice (£4,000 labour, £1,500 materials, 0% VAT) a registered subcontractor is paid £4,700 and £800 goes to HMRC.
Source: HMRC "Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708)", paragraphs 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 3.1 to 3.4, 11.2, 13.8.1, 13.9 and 17.4 (updated 26 August 2026); HMRC "VAT reverse charge technical guide", section on new build housing, and "Check when you must use the VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services"; GOV.UK "What you must do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) contractor"; all read 1 October 2026. The invoice figures are invented.
Full guide: New-build house at 0% VAT: does CIS still come off? One invoice worked through
Money from scrap taken off your jobs is business turnover, which HMRC's 2026 self-employment notes define as the total amount received by the business by any payment method. On £600 of scrap a basic-rate sole trader owes £156 (20% Income Tax plus 6% Class 4 National Insurance), and a scrap dealer in England and Wales may not pay cash and must keep its record of the sale for 3 years.
Source: HMRC SA103F Notes 2026 (boxes 15, 16 and 16.1); GOV.UK pages on tax-free allowances on trading income, Income Tax rates, self-employed National Insurance rates, self-employed records, waste carrier registration and waste transfer notes; Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 sections 11, 12, 13, 15 and 21 on legislation.gov.uk; Home Office supplementary guidance to that Act (January 2023); ElectriciansForums.net thread "Do you have to pay tax on scrap copper?". All read 2026-10-01; Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, Part 8 (lower tier exclusion of construction and demolition waste), read 2026-10-01.
On a profit of £42,000 for 2025 to 2026 a sole trader owes £7,651.80 in Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance. With £7,200 already deducted under CIS the balance due by 31 January 2027 is £451.80 and no payments on account are due, because less than £1,000 is left to pay. With no CIS deductions and no payments on account made last year, the same trader pays £11,477.70 by 31 January 2027 and £3,825.90 by 31 July 2027.
Source: GOV.UK "Self Assessment tax returns: deadlines" and "penalties", "Understand your Self Assessment tax bill: payments on account", "What you must do as a CIS subcontractor", "Income Tax rates and allowances for current and past years", "Rates and allowances: National Insurance contributions" and "HMRC interest rates for late and early payments"; Taxes Management Act 1970 section 59A and Finance Act 2004 section 62 on legislation.gov.uk; all read 1 October 2026. The two traders and their figures are invented.
A self-employed tradesperson must keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year, and VAT records for at least 6 years. For a job invoiced on 14 November 2025 the tax records must be kept until at least 31 January 2032, the VAT invoice until 14 November 2031, the CIS records until 5 April 2029 and the waste transfer note until 14 November 2027. Keeping the whole 2025 to 2026 tax year until 5 April 2032 covers all of them.
Source: GOV.UK "Business records if you're self-employed", "Keeping VAT records", "What you must do as a CIS contractor: record keeping", "PAYE and payroll for employers: keeping records", "Running a limited company: company and accounting records" and "Waste transfer notes"; Limitation Act 1980, sections 4B and 5, and Defective Premises Act 1972, sections 1 and 2A, on legislation.gov.uk; HSE leaflet HSE40 on employers' liability insurance; all read 1 October 2026. The example job is invented.
No law requires a tradesperson to hold public liability insurance; the Health and Safety Executive calls it "generally voluntary". Employers' liability insurance is compulsory from the day you become an employer, for at least £5 million, and GOV.UK says you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. A firm that takes on a labourer on 1 October 2026 and is not insured until 1 November 2026 has 31 uninsured days, a maximum of £77,500.
Source: GOV.UK "Employers' liability insurance"; Health and Safety Executive leaflet HSE40 (rev4), "Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969: a brief guide for employers"; Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, section 5, and the 1998 Regulations, regulation 3, on legislation.gov.uk; Limitation Act 1980, section 5; NICEIC "Join us" page; all read 1 October 2026. The example firm is invented.
We wrote this list of 21 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 5 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Three of the 21 steps carry a monthly deadline set by HMRC: the subcontractor's statement and the return by the 19th, and the payment by the 22nd. Missing the return by one day costs £100.
Source: GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: how to register, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: who is covered, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: overview and monthly returns, read 1 October 2026; our sick pay guide; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: verify subcontractors, read 1 October 2026; our saved test run in the CIS deduction calculator guide; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: make deductions, read 1 October 2026; HMRC, VAT reverse charge technical guide; HMRC, VAT Notice 708; GOV.UK CIS contractor guide; GOV.UK CIS contractor guide; our worked invoice; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: record keeping, read 1 October 2026; our monthly routine in the CIS return guide; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: make deductions and pay subcontractors, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: file your monthly returns, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: pay deductions to HMRC, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: tell HMRC about changes, read 1 October 2026; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: CIS checklist for contractors: taking on and paying a subcontractor
We ran the six-month penalty rule (£300 or 5% of deductions, whichever is higher) at three deduction levels; 5% overtakes £300 once deductions pass £6,000.
Source: GOV.UK, "File your monthly CIS returns", read 2026-10-01; sums saved in tests/gaffer/calc-output.txt.
Full guide: CIS monthly return: the 19th deadline and what a late one costs
We wrote this list of 22 steps in 6 stages from the rules set out in 15 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Six of the 22 steps apply only when the customer is a householder or only when the customer is a business, which is why the first step is to write down which one you are dealing with.
Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998; GOV.UK, VAT registration: when to register, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor, read 1 October 2026; our worked quote in the follow-up guide; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 4; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 31 and 36; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 10(2); Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 57; our follow-up schedule; HMRC, VAT reverse charge technical guide; VAT Notice 708; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor; Building Regulations 2010; NICEIC guidance, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers; HMRC, VAT reverse charge technical guide; our test in tests/gaffer/tools-check.txt; HMRC self-employment notes 2026; Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998; Bank of England Bank Rate; Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims; GOV.UK, Make a court claim for money: court fees, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, What you must do as a CIS contractor: file your monthly returns; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: Job paperwork checklist for tradespeople: from the quote to the final invoice
We wrote ten questions from the rules set out in 9 of our guides; for 5 of the ten the answer that is in order is "no", so the check cannot be passed by ticking yes. The first asks: When a householder agrees a job in their own home, does your quote include the cancellation information and form? Without it, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 let the customer cancel for up to 12 months and 14 days, and they owe nothing for work already done.
Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 31 and 36; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36; Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 49 and 57; GOV.UK, CIS monthly returns and penalties; GOV.UK, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: qualifying income; GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery; GOV.UK, VAT registration: when to register; GOV.UK, Statutory Sick Pay: employer guide; HMRC SA103F Notes 2026; Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, sections 12 and 15; Building Regulations, regulation 20; each rule is set out with its source in the guide the question links to. The test record is in tests/readiness/tools-check.txt.
Free tool: Trades firm paperwork check: ten yes-or-no questions on quotes, tax and getting paid
We wrote this list of 23 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 7 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Four of the 23 steps turn on a 30-day limit, starting with the 30 days you have to register after the end of the month your rolling 12-month turnover went over £90,000. The longest period in the list is the 6 years you must keep VAT records.
Source: GOV.UK, Register for VAT: when to register, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: calculate your turnover, read 1 October 2026; Value Added Tax Act 1994, Schedule 1, paragraph 1(1)(b); GOV.UK, Register for VAT, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: if you go over the threshold temporarily, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: how to register, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: late registration, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, VAT Flat Rate Scheme, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, VAT Cash Accounting Scheme, read 1 October 2026; Xero pricing page, read 1 October 2026, in our software cost guide; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: accounting for VAT while you wait, read 1 October 2026; our VAT calculator guide; GOV.UK, Register for VAT, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Charge, reclaim and record VAT: keeping VAT records, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: after you register; HMRC VAT invoice rules in our invoice guide; HMRC, VAT reverse charge technical guide; HMRC, VAT Notice 708; VAT reverse charge technical guide; HMRC VAT fraction, in our VAT calculator guide; GOV.UK, Charge, reclaim and record VAT: purchases made before registration, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Charge, reclaim and record VAT: VAT invoices, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Send a VAT Return: deadlines and late returns, read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, Register for VAT: changing your VAT details, read 1 October 2026; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: VAT registration checklist for tradespeople: what to do when you cross £90,000
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.