MTD for Roofers 2026 — CIS & Materials

The Same Gross Income Rule That Catches Out Every CIS Trade

Like every CIS trade, your MTD qualifying income is based on your gross invoiced amount before the contractor's CIS deduction, not what actually lands in your account. If you invoice a main contractor £38,000 for a year of subcontracted roofing work and they deduct 20% CIS tax, your qualifying income is still £38,000, even though you only received £30,400. This is the single most common misunderstanding among CIS subcontractors checking their MTD position.

Bigger Re-Roof Jobs Bring Bigger Material Costs

Roofing carries some of the highest material costs of any construction trade — tiles, slate, felt, battens, lead flashing, and increasingly solar-ready roofing components. Where you supply materials as part of a job, itemise them separately from labour on your invoice. This protects you from over-deduction under CIS (materials should be excluded from the 20% or 30% calculation) and makes your quarterly MTD digital records far cleaner to categorise.

Worked Example

Ellis. CIS-registered roofer subcontracting for two regular contractors, occasional direct domestic repairs.

CIS labour invoiced (gross, before 20% deduction): £36,200
Materials invoiced separately (excluded from CIS): £8,400
Direct domestic repair work: £4,900
Total qualifying income: £49,500 — just under the £50,000 Phase 1 threshold, above the £30,000 Phase 2 band. Ellis joins MTD from April 2027, but given how close he sits to £50,000, one bigger contract next year could tip him into the earlier Phase 1 mandatory date, so it's worth tracking through the year rather than only checking at tax return time.

What You Can Claim

Roofing materials — tiles, slate, felt, battens, lead, fixings
Scaffold hire or your own scaffold tower
Safety equipment — harnesses, roof anchors, edge protection, required for working at height
Van costs — fuel, insurance, or the 45p/mile mileage rate
Public liability insurance — typically higher premiums given the height risk
CSCS card and CITB levy where applicable
Waste disposal for old roofing materials removed from site

Quick Check

Check Your CIS + Direct Income

CIS labour (gross, before deduction)

Direct client income

Best MTD Software for Roofers

Zoho Books

Free tier available

Free tier handles combined CIS and direct-client income well

QuickBooks

From £14/mo

Strong mobile app for logging materials and invoicing from site

FreeAgent

From £19/mo

Good for tracking CIS deductions against your final tax bill

Software links are affiliate, help fund CheckMyMTD. Recommendations based on ease of use for self-employed income tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my MTD threshold based on income before or after the CIS deduction?

Before. HMRC assesses your qualifying income on your gross CIS labour income, not the amount that actually reaches your bank account after the contractor's 20% (or 30%) deduction.

Do materials I supply count towards my qualifying income?

Yes, materials you invoice for are part of your business turnover and included in your digital records, even though they should be excluded from the CIS deduction calculation itself if itemised separately.

A wet winter cost me weeks of work. Does that affect my MTD status?

No, your MTD eligibility is based on your total qualifying income across the full tax year, from your most recently filed return, not on any single weather-affected quarter. A quiet quarter simply reports accurately what happened.

Can I claim scaffold hire as a business expense?

Yes, scaffold hire, or the cost of your own scaffold tower, is a normal allowable business expense for roofing work.

I work for two different contractors under CIS. Do both incomes combine?

Yes, all your self-employment income, whether from one contractor or several, combines into a single qualifying income figure for MTD purposes.