Solar and EV charger installation involves some of the highest material costs relative to labour of any construction-adjacent trade — panels, inverters, batteries, and charging units are expensive components that you typically supply and invoice as part of the job. Your qualifying income is the full invoice total, materials and labour combined, before deducting what you paid your supplier. This can make your gross qualifying income look much larger than your actual profit margin, which is worth understanding clearly when checking your MTD threshold.
Some installation work is funded partly or fully through government or supplier grant schemes, where the grant is paid to you or deducted from the customer's bill. Either way, the full value of the work you deliver counts as your qualifying income. Installers who also subcontract for larger solar or EV infrastructure firms under CIS follow the standard gross-income rule: qualifying income based on your invoiced amount before the contractor's deduction.
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It's the full invoice amount, materials and labour combined, before deducting what you paid your supplier. Materials are claimed back separately as a business expense, which reduces your taxable profit but not your gross qualifying income.
Yes, the full value of the work you deliver counts as qualifying income, regardless of whether it's paid by the customer directly or via a grant scheme.
Before. Your qualifying income is your gross invoiced amount, not the amount you actually receive after the contractor's CIS deduction.
Yes, professional certification and scheme membership required for your work is a normal allowable business expense.
No, MTD eligibility is based on your gross qualifying income, not your profit margin. This does mean installers can be closer to a threshold than their genuine earnings might suggest, worth checking carefully.