If your business is no longer trading, please let us know on your Levy Return or email levy.grant@citb.co.uk with more information.
Help guides for Boxes A to H
This video will help you to complete your Levy Return figures on your paper Levy Return. You can skip ahead to the relevant chapters for each of the Boxes A to H of the Levy Return.
Video length: 7:14 Watch this video on YouTube
Section 1: Business details
Check your business name, address, and registration number. If anything is wrong or has changed, please cross it out and write the correct information.
Add your Companies House number if you have one (only for limited companies).
If your registration number is incorrect, please contact levy.grant@citb.co.uk and let us know.
Check your main activity—this means the type of work your business mostly does (e.g. roofing, bricklaying). If this has changed, please cross it out and write the correct information.
If you’re not sure what your main activity is, you can check our list of construction activities.
Section 1a: Prescribed Organisations
If you belong to a trade association or federation that is not already listed on your Levy Return write its name in this section.
If you don’t belong to one, write “none.” Don’t leave this blank.
There are currently 14 federations that CITB seek the views of as part of Consensus, which we refer to as Prescribed Organisations (POs).
Telling us this information lets us work out the employer representation for each organisation.
We will not pass any financial information on to a Prescribed Organisation.
Learn more about Consensus.
Section 1b: Sole traders or partners
If you’re a sole trader or in a partnership, check, correct or complete your full names. If you’re a limited company, skip this part.
Section 2: Payments to employees
Box A: Total gross taxable payments made to all employees on the payroll (including paid directors) before deductions: Write the total money paid to employees and directors. Do not include pence in any of these figures.
Include:
PAYE staff
Paid directors
Admin staff
IR35 off payroll workers (deemed as employed for tax purposes)
Any leavers.
Exclude:
Employer pension contributions
Sole trader and partner drawings
National Insurance contributions
Dividends
Subcontractors, agency staff or labour suppliers.
If you paid no one, write "0" and explain why (e.g. dormant company, only subcontractors used).
If you are a limited company, a director engaged in day-to-day activities counts as an employee and must be included in Box A. If the directors have not been paid through PAYE and you have entered "0" in Box A, please tell us why they have not taken a wage in the space provided e.g. directors take dividends only or did not receive a wage.
Box B: Average number of employees on the payroll: Write the average number of employees. This should include all employees included in Box A.
For part time staff, count them as a fraction of a full time role e.g. ½ or ¼ .
Are you a dormant company?
You must still complete an annual Levy Return. Please complete the form ensuring you give the reason for ‘0’ payroll as ‘Dormant’ in Section 2 or clearly mark on the form ‘Dormant’ ensuring you complete the declaration in Section 6.
Section 3a: CIS subcontractor payments
If you didn’t pay any subcontractors, write "0" in Boxes C and D.
If you used subcontractors and deducted tax:
Box C: Total tax deducted from subcontractors paid through CIS: This figure can be found by adding together ‘total tax deducted’ from each of the CIS300/online contractor monthly returns.
Box D: Total of all payments (before deductions) to all subcontractors paid through CIS: This figure can be found by adding together ‘total payments made (does not include VAT)’ from each of the CIS300/online contractor monthly returns.
Do not include pence in any of these figures.
Box F: Total payments made through CIS to all taxable subcontractors, less the cost of materials: You can calculate this figure by finding the lines on your CIS300/online contractor monthly returns where tax was deducted and adding the total payments made from the ‘total payments made (does not include VAT)’ for these lines. Then subtract the cost of materials (paid for by each of these contractors) from these lines.
Box F helps make sure your Levy bill is correct if you used both 20% and 30% tax rates. If you have taxed at 30% and do not complete this box your Levy may be higher.
For more help with Box F you can watch the Levy Return video or view our guidance booklet from the menu on the right.
To get an idea of what your Levy may be you can use our Levy calculator. Your Levy is calculated using your figures from Box A and C, or Box A and F if you have taxed subcontractors at 30%. Learn more about how your Levy is calculated and Levy rates.
Section 3b: Labour supplier payments
New to your 2026 Levy Return: We are collecting information to better understand labour supply models in the construction industry. The figures supplied in Section 3b are collected for research purposes only and do not affect the Levy you will pay. Learn more about Section 3b, what to include, and why we collect this information.
If you did not make any payments to labour suppliers, write “0” in Boxes G and H. Do not leave these boxes blank.
If you did make payments to labour suppliers during this Levy year, please complete Boxes G and H as appropriate.
Box G: Total payments made through CIS to labour agencies, umbrella companies, CIS payroll providers or similar organisations^ with gross payment status: this can be calculated by adding together the relevant payments from each of the CIS300/online contractor monthly returns. Do not include pence in this figure.
Include:
Payments made through CIS to labour agencies, umbrella companies, CIS payroll providers or similar organisations with gross payment status
Mixed construction activity contracts as per CIS340 guidance
Travel and subsistence as per CIS340 guidance.
Exclude:
PAYE workers
Net paid CIS subcontractors
Gross paid CIS subcontractors who are not labour agencies, CIS payroll providers or similar organisations
Payments to off payroll workers
Payments made to trade gangs such as brickwork, carpentry, plastering etc (unless paid through a labour supplier)
VAT.
Box H: Total payments made outside CIS to labour agencies, umbrella companies, or similar organisations^. This can be calculated by adding together the relevant payments from the purchase ledger/accounts payable.
Include:
All labour supplier payments made outside of CIS regardless of activity
Agency/commission fees for the provision of labour.
Exclude:
PAYE workers
Payments to off payroll workers
Agency finders fees/transfer fees
VAT.
^What do we mean by similar organisations?
These types of businesses are known by multiple terms (e.g. contracting and payment services, staffing agencies, CIS payroll service, CIS payment intermediary, labour/resource providers, labour/payroll solutions providers).
Many of these terms are interchangeable but it's the service they provide which is important.
Section 4: Establishments
List any construction establishments (separate houses of business or commercial organisations) that you have included in your figures on your Levy Return. This should include any business not stated in Section 1 that is included in your payments to employees or subcontractors. Continue on a separate sheet and attach this to your Levy Return if necessary.
Establishments do not include in-house departments, separate office locations, building sites, yards etc.
Section 5: Contact details
If there is a Levy contact filled in check that the details are still correct. If there is no Levy contact add their name, email and telephone number.
It is important that these details are kept up to date so you can stay up to date with your Levy.
Section 6: Sign and send
Read and sign the declaration in Section 6. The declaration needs to be signed by a director, company secretary or someone in a similar position of responsibility.
Final checklist
Before sending your form:
Fill in all boxes with your payments made (write “0” if needed)
Use whole pounds only
Do not include pence
Included your directors' wages in Box A if your company is a limited company
Only completed Box F id you deducted tax at 30% from some or all subcontractors paid through CIS
Completed Boxes G and H if you have used labour suppliers or entered 0 if the value is nil
Include trade memberships
Explain any nil payments when asked
Update contact details if necessary
Attach extra sheets if needed
Sign the declaration
We may contact you if we need more information about anything that you have provided or may have missed on your Levy Return.