Following the recent announcement by HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) that the current voucher based Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) will now continue until 6th April 2007, the new CIS functionality planned for the Exchequer system will not be introduced until nearer the launch date.
Originally, it appeared that the reformed CIS scheme would be introduced in April 2006 but many in the software industry felt that the original timescales were overly ambitious. The new system will eventually provide companies with the choice of manually handwriting the monthly return or filing their returns electronically. Broadly welcomed by the industry because of the streamlined approach of a single monthly return for all sub-contractors, the reformed CIS scheme will no longer require companies to submit pre-printed stationery, providing significant productivity benefits.
