Next tax date 7 Nov MTD quarterly update 2 9 days Get reminders

Guide · By trade

Tax for self-employed electricians: MTD, CIS, expenses and pricing

What's different about tax when you're a self-employed spark: the turnover that tips you into Making Tax Digital, CIS on contractor work, and the costs you can take off your profit.

Stephen Evans, editor
Figures checked against GOV.UK and HMRC guidance
Last checked 29 Oct 2026 · Next review Apr 2027

The short answer

Tax year 2026/27

Self-employed electricians pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on profit like any sole trader, but the materials you charge customers for count towards the turnover that decides Making Tax Digital: over £30,000 on your 2025/26 return and you're in from 6 April 2027. Work for a builder or other contractor usually comes under CIS, with 20% taken off if you're registered, but jobs for homeowners don't. You can claim tools and test equipment, calibration, protective kit, your competent person scheme fee and training that keeps you up to date. Put part of every payment aside for the January bill.

How much tax will I pay?

The same as any sole trader: income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit, which is what you're paid minus allowable business costs. Our self-employed tax rates guide has the figures for every level of profit.

Example. You invoice £45,000 in 2026/27, including £9,000 of cable, boards and fittings you charge on to customers. Your other costs, the van, tools, test kit, scheme fee and phone, come to £6,000. Your profit is £30,000, and the tax and National Insurance on it is £4,532.

Most of that falls due on 31 January after the tax year ends, often with a payment towards next year on top. Our tax set-aside calculator turns your profit into a figure to put aside each month.

Do I need Making Tax Digital?

This is where electricians get caught out. The limit is on turnover, not profit, and turnover includes the materials you charge customers for.

A consumer unit change billed at £650 is £650 of turnover, even if £180 of it was the board.

If your turnover from self-employment and any rental income was over £30,000 on your 2025/26 return, you use Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027. In the example above, the profit is £30,000 but the turnover that counts is well over the limit. For CIS work, turnover is your pay before the deduction comes off.

Our April 2027 plan has every date, and the MTD checker tells you in four questions whether you're in.

When does CIS apply to electricians?

The Construction Industry Scheme covers most construction work to buildings, and electrical installation on a building job is part of that. It applies when you work for a contractor: a construction business such as a builder or developer, or a large organisation like a council or housing association that spends heavily on building work.

  • Working for a builder or developer: they take 20% off your pay if you're registered for CIS, or 30% if you're not, and send it to HMRC.
  • Working for homeowners: no CIS. A homeowner paying for work on their own home isn't a contractor.

The deductions are tax paid in advance, and because they come off your pay before your costs, many electricians are owed some back at the end of the year. How to claim a CIS refund explains how, and CIS registration covers signing up and gross payment status.

What can electricians claim?

Anything you buy wholly for the business can come off your profit. For electricians, that usually means:

  • Materials for jobs: cable, accessories, boards and fittings. They count towards turnover when you charge for them, and come off your profit as a cost.
  • Tools and test equipment: under the cash basis, which most sole traders use, the full price of a multifunction tester or a set of tools comes off in the year you pay for it.
  • Calibration and repairs: keeping your test kit and tools in working order.
  • Protective kit: safety boots, hard hats and overalls you only wear for work. Everyday clothes don't count, even if you work in them.
  • Your competent person scheme: membership of a trade body related to your business, such as NICEIC or NAPIT.
  • Training: courses that keep your skills up to date, such as changes to the wiring regulations. Training to qualify before you start trading doesn't count.
  • Your van: either a flat rate per mile or its actual costs. Our mileage guide explains which works out better.
  • Insurance, phone and software: business insurance in full, and the business share of your phone and any software you also use privately.

Our guide to tradesman expenses covers the rest, including working from home and what you can't claim.

Pricing your work

A day rate has to cover your tax, National Insurance, van, tools, scheme fee and the days you can't bill, not just the hours on site. Our day rate calculator works it out from the take-home you want.

Several job management apps produce electrical certificates alongside quotes and invoices, so the paperwork for a job sits in one place. We compare them in job management software.

VAT

You have to register once your VAT taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12 months. If you're VAT registered and work for a VAT-registered contractor under CIS, the domestic reverse charge usually applies, so the contractor accounts for the VAT instead of paying it to you. Our VAT guide covers both, and the Flat Rate Scheme.

Common questions

Can I claim a course on changes to the wiring regulations?

Yes, if you're already working as an electrician. Training that keeps your skills up to date with changes in your industry is an allowable expense. A course to qualify as an electrician before you start trading isn't, because it's for starting a new business.

Is my NICEIC or NAPIT fee a business expense?

Yes. Membership of a trade body related to your business is allowable, and you pay the scheme so you can certify your own work.

I mostly do domestic work. Does CIS apply to me?

Not to work for homeowners. CIS covers payments from contractors, meaning construction businesses such as builders and developers, so a homeowner paying for a rewire takes nothing off. If you also do jobs for a builder, those payments come under CIS.

Should I register for VAT?

You have to once your VAT taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12 months. Most homeowners can't claim VAT back, so registering before you have to usually means charging domestic customers more.

Do I need special software for certificates?

Not for tax. But some job management apps produce electrical certificates as well as quotes and invoices, often on their mid-priced plans, and some send MTD updates too or connect to software that does.

Related toolWork out the day rate you needCompareJob software with electrical certificates, compared

Sources

  1. Expenses if you're self-employed, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026
  2. Expenses if you're self-employed: training courses, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026
  3. Simpler income tax: cash basis, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026
  4. What you must do as a CIS subcontractor, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026
  5. What you must do as a CIS contractor: who is covered, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026
  6. Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, GOV.UK. Checked 29 Oct 2026

Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we'll check it within two working days.