HMRC reinstates CIS nil returns from 6 April 2026

From 6 April 2026, many construction contractors will again need to send a ‘nil return’ for any tax month in which no payments are made to sub-contractors. This update sits in the Income Tax (Construction Industry Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, a statutory instrument signed by HMRC Commissioners on 12 March and laid before the House of Commons on 13 March. It amends the 2005 CIS Regulations made under the Finance Act 2004.

Let’s put this in plain English. A statutory instrument (SI) is a legal tool that lets government adjust how an existing Act works day to day. Here, the SI adds new rules to regulation 4 of the CIS Regulations 2005, which is the bit that governs your monthly CIS return to HMRC. The change is short but practical: it reintroduces a clear duty to file a monthly return even when you paid no sub-contractors-unless you warned HMRC ahead of time that you would be inactive that month.

The new regulation 4(9A) says that if you are a contractor because your business includes construction operations, and you have previously made contract payments, you must still file a return for a month with no payments. On that return, you simply indicate that no payments were made. The filing deadline is 14 days after the end of the tax month, which in practice means by the 19th of the following month.

There is a safety valve. Under new regulation 4(9B), you do not need to send a nil return if you tell HMRC at least 14 days before the tax month starts that you will make no payments that month. Think of it as pre-notifying a quiet period. For example, to avoid filing for the July tax month (6 July to 5 August), you would need to notify HMRC by 22 June; if you do not, you must file a nil return by 19 August.

This is about contractors, not sub-contractors. In CIS language, a ‘contractor’ includes a business whose activities include construction operations-think building firms and developers that pay sub-contractors for work. Sub-contractors do not file monthly CIS returns; they receive statements from contractors and report income and CIS deductions through Self Assessment. If you are new to CIS, this SI does not create a new task for you as a sub-contractor.

One more tweak matters for those who pay or are paid by public bodies. The SI inserts regulation 23A, which says a payment under a construction contract is not a ‘contract payment’ if it is made to a person listed in paragraphs (b) to (k) of section 59(1) of the Finance Act 2004. In everyday terms, certain payments to specified public bodies sit outside CIS and do not require deductions. If you work with public sector organisations, check your contract counterparty and keep written evidence of status.

Timelines can be confusing, so here is a simple way to remember the rhythm. A tax month in CIS runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next. Your return-whether it shows deductions or ‘nil’-is due by the 19th of the following month. If you expect to be inactive for a month, set a reminder for 14 days before that month starts to notify HMRC and remove the need to file for that period.

For small firms that sometimes pause sub-contractor work-perhaps between projects-the new rule is about tidy admin. Before each tax month, ask: will I pay any sub-contractors? If the honest answer is ‘no’, and you know at least two weeks before the month starts, notify HMRC and keep a record. If you are unsure or you miss the window, plan to file a nil return by the 19th to stay penalty-safe.

Students and apprentices often ask whether this changes what they have to do. If you are a sub-contractor paid under CIS, nothing new is added to your monthly routine; keep holding on to your payment and deduction statements and check your tax is correctly recorded. If you happen to be running a small company that hires sub-contractors on some jobs, you count as a contractor for those months and this SI applies to you.

For teachers using this in class, the learning point is how secondary legislation shapes real duties. The Act sets the framework (the Finance Act 2004 defines contractors, sub-contractors and ‘contract payments’); the regulations set the routines (monthly returns, deadlines, and exceptions). This SI tweaks those routines to make clear when you must report a quiet month and when public body payments are outside the scheme.

You can cite the source in your notes: the Income Tax (Construction Industry Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 on legislation.gov.uk confirm the ‘made’ date of 12 March 2026, the ‘laid’ date of 13 March 2026, and commencement on 6 April 2026. HMRC says a Tax Information and Impact Note will be published on GOV.UK. Keep those references with your records so you can show exactly why your process changed this spring.