Claim a refund of Construction Industry Scheme deductions if you're a limited company or an agent
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-14)

Get a refund of your Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions if you’ve paid too much tax or National Insurance.

Who can make a claim

You can claim a repayment of your Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions if:
- you’re a limited company subcontractor, or an agent of a limited company
- you’ve paid too much tax or National Insurance (https://www.gov.uk/what-you-must-do-as-a-cis-subcontractor/pay-tax-and-claim-back-deductions)
If you submit your return before the filing deadline of 5 April, your records may not show all deductions for the previous tax year. This may cause delays or an incorrect payment.

What you’ll need

To make a claim, you’ll need to give your:
- company name, telephone number and address
- PAYE reference number
- company unique tax reference
- estimated overpayment amount
You’ll need to provide details of amounts owed or becoming due if you want us to deduct your repayment from:
- Corporation Tax — include your Corporation Tax unique tax reference
- VAT — include your registration number
- PAYE — include your PAYE reference
If you want us to pay the refund into a bank or building society account, you’ll need to provide the:
- bank or building society name
- bank account number
- sort code
- account holder’s name
Additional supporting information

You do not have to send any additional supporting information with your claim unless you are claiming for the current year. We may request further details if your claim does not match your records.

To support a current year claim you should include any related:
- Payment and Deduction statements (PDS)
- bank statements
You need to submit your claim with a completed form R38 or signed authority if you want HMRC to pay an agent or other nominated representative.

Claim online

To claim online you’ll need to sign in with your Government Gateway User ID and password (if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in).

If you’re an agent, you will need to use the Government Gateway user ID you use to sign in to your agent services account.

You can create an agent services account (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-an-hmrc-agent-services-account) if you do not have one.

Start now (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/submissions/new-form/claim-construction-industry-scheme-deductions-refund)

Claim by post

If you’re unable to claim online you can claim by post.

To claim by post you’ll need to gather your information and send it to HMRC in a written request marked as ‘CIS’.

Where to send your written claim

PT Operations North East EnglandHM Revenue and CustomsBX9 1BXUnited Kingdom

Change a claim

You can amend your claim if you find that you have not included the full amount. You can either use the online form, or make an amended claim by post.

If you amend your claim in writing:
- mark it ‘revised claim’
- tell us the full amount you’re claiming
- refer back to your original claim
What happens next

You can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-expect-a-reply-from-hmrc).

For more information on the Construction Industry Scheme

Contact Construction Industry Scheme: general enquiries (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/construction-industry-scheme) if you have a question about your CIS offset.