Filing CIS Returns

You must file a CIS return (CIS300) with HMRC for every tax month, even one with no subcontractor payments to report (a nil return). dynamik.app prepares the return from your bills; you file it on HMRC Online and record it here as filed.

Creating a CIS Return

1. Go to HMRC > CIS
2. Click New Return
3. Select the tax year and the tax month. A tax month runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next: month 1 is 6 April to 5 May, month 12 is 6 March to 5 April
4. The return is created in Draft status

Adding Deductions Manually

On the edit page, you can manually add deductions:

1. Click Add Deduction
2. Enter the subcontractor name, UTR, verification number
3. Select the tax treatment
4. Enter the gross amount paid, excluding VAT, and the cost of materials
5. The deduction is calculated on the gross amount less materials

Importing from Bills

If you've recorded CIS bills for the period, you can import them automatically:

1. Open the CIS return for editing
2. Click Import from Bills
3. Every CIS bill with a payment dated in the tax month becomes a deduction line, with the bill's subtotal excluding VAT as the gross amount and its materials cost alongside
4. A bill paid in part is reported for the share paid in the month; the rest goes on the return for the month it is paid in. A bill not paid yet is on no return
5. Importing again brings each line up to date with payments recorded since, and adds bills paid since; it never adds a bill twice

The return covers the payments you made to subcontractors in the tax month, so what counts is the date on each payment recorded against the bill, not the bill's own date. Record the payment on the bill (Record payment) before importing.

Filing and recording the return

1. Open the CIS return detail page and check the totals
2. File the return on HMRC Online with those figures
3. Back in dynamik.app, click Mark as filed
4. Enter the date you filed it and the reference from HMRC's acknowledgement, then click Record as filed

A return recorded as filed can no longer be edited. You can still download the payment and deduction statements for your subcontractors.

Nil Returns

If you had no subcontractor payments in a month:

1. Create the return as normal
2. Mark it as a nil return on the edit page
3. File the nil return on HMRC Online, then record it here as filed

If you will make no payments to subcontractors for six months or more, you can ask HMRC to make you inactive instead of filing nil returns.

Deadlines & Penalties

• A CIS return is due by the 19th after the tax month ends: for tax month 1 (6 April – 5 May), by 19 May
• 1 day late: £100
• 2 months late: a further £200
• 6 months late: a further £300 or 5% of the CIS deductions on the return, whichever is higher
• 12 months late: a further £300 or 5% of the CIS deductions, whichever is higher; more, up to £3,000 or 100% of the deductions, if HMRC find information was deliberately withheld