HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a consultation document on options to improve the operation of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) and its introduction of mandatory on-line CIS filing for contractors.

In this year’s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne said the government would consult to improve the operation of the CIS with the intention of making it less expensive and time consuming for companies to operate.

HMRC is specifically looking for comments from specialist contractors, so if you want to have an input on the way the CIS operates, you can download the consultation document here. It tells you how to comment.

The consultation closes on 22 September.

The foreword to the consultation says: “The construction sector contributes nearly £90billion or 6.7% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product, and employs 1.3million people. Around one million businesses are registered with the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), a tax scheme that provides valuable revenue protection for the Exchequer across the construction sector.

Construction Industry businesses asked the Government for a simpler regulatory tax environment. We are listening and would like to invest in improvements to save businesses time and money.

“This consultation sets out proposals for improvements to CIS online services for contractors as well as a proposal to make it easier for subcontractors to obtain gross payment status.

“These proposals could substantially reduce CIS businesses’ administrative costs while still meeting the primary objective of the scheme to protect the Exchequer. They will also give more CIS businesses better control over their cash flow and create a more efficient regulatory environment.

“Many of these improvements will create efficiencies for both CIS contractors and HMRC, but to fully realise these benefits we are consulting on requiring all businesses to file all information online.”