Going over the VAT threshold, a developer's zero-rating and a builder's CIS: what goes on my invoice?

Written for gardeners and garden maintenance rounds, landscapers, grounds maintenance contractors, tree surgeons and arborists, lawn treatment, fencing and paving firms, including winter hedge, tree and gritting work, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The short version

1. Watch your rolling 12-month turnover.Track it through the summer. Pass £90,000 and you must tell HMRC within 30 days of the end of that month (As of Oct 2026).
2. Zero-rate new builds only with proof.Get the planning condition and approved landscaping drawing on file first. Extras beyond the approved scheme and work after completion are standard-rated.
3. Check every CIS deduction.Expect CIS only on construction work for builders and developers. It is worked out on the payment excluding VAT, less materials you can evidence.

Most of your work is simple: garden maintenance, landscaping, tree work and fencing are standard-rated at 20%, including the plants and materials you supply with them. As of Oct 2026. Two things change the picture: a strong season that takes you over the registration threshold, and work for builders and developers, where zero-rating on new homes and the Construction Industry Scheme can apply.

When a good summer takes you over the threshold

Registration runs on rolling 12-month turnover, so a strong season can tip you over in the autumn. Tell HMRC within 30 days of the end of the month you passed £90,000; registration takes effect from the first day of the second month after it. Register at once if your turnover in the next 30 days alone will pass it. As of Oct 2026.

When new-build landscaping can be zero-rated

Work supplied in the course of constructing a new dwelling can be zero-rated. For landscaping, that means work closely connected to the building and done before it is completed.

• Seeding and turfing within the plot usually qualify.
• Planting trees, shrubs and flowers qualifies only where it is on a landscaping scheme approved by the planning authority under a planning condition.
• Work after the building is completed, and extras beyond the approved scheme, are standard-rated.

The developer's say-so is not evidence. In the worked example, the VAT at stake on one package is £7,666.67.

When CIS applies to you

Landscaping done for a builder or developer under a construction contract is a construction operation, so you are paid net of CIS, and if you pay subcontractors on that work you are a contractor too. Garden maintenance for homeowners, and routine grounds maintenance with no construction work, are outside CIS.

Then check the deduction itself. It is worked out on the payment excluding VAT, less the materials you paid for to do the work and can evidence. It is not taken from every line on your invoice that is not labour.

Three more traps

• Hard landscaping supplied to a VAT-registered contractor under CIS, who is not the end user, falls under the VAT domestic reverse charge for building services.
• On the Flat Rate Scheme, a limited cost trader, with goods under 2% of turnover or under £1,000 a year, pays 16.5%. That catches labour-only gardeners, so check before joining. As of Oct 2026.
• A sole trader using simplified expenses for a car or van claims 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles from 6 April 2026 (45p before) and 25p after (35p from 6 April 2027, announced at Budget 2026), but not once capital allowances have been claimed on that vehicle. As of Oct 2026.

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