Sole Trader or Limited Company for a Roofer
Written and reviewed by the Roofer Accountants editorial team. Last reviewed 29 July 2026.
Most roofers start self-employed, which is the simplest way to trade. At some point a limited company can save tax and cap the risk, but for a roofer the decision has a CIS twist that a generic comparison misses.
This is how the two compare for a roofing business, where the crossover tends to fall, and what changes when you incorporate.
How Each Works for a Roofer
As a sole trader you are taxed on your profit through Self Assessment, your CIS deductions feed straight into your own tax, and your refund comes back to you personally. It is cheap to run and quick to set up, but you carry the liability personally if a job goes wrong.
A roofing limited company is a separate legal entity: it pays corporation tax, you take money out as salary and dividends, and liability is capped. CIS still applies, but now the company suffers the deductions, and reclaiming or offsetting them runs through the company's payroll and returns rather than your personal tax, which is more involved.
Where the Crossover Falls
The tax saving from a company grows once your profit is comfortably more than you need to draw to live on, because you can leave some in the company rather than being taxed on all of it at once. A roofer taking every pound out to live on sees far less benefit than one who can retain profit for materials, a new van or a quieter winter.
There is no single magic figure, and the CIS mechanics change the sums, so we model your real numbers both ways, including how the deductions and any refund flow, before you commit.
What Changes When You Incorporate
A company brings limited liability, which matters in a trade working at height, and it can look more established to commercial clients and main contractors. Against that, it is more admin: company accounts, a corporation tax return, running payroll, and the CIS deductions handled through the company rather than your personal return.
It is also worth timing around gross payment status and VAT, since both interact with the structure. Our roofing company service runs the comparison and handles the switch where it is worth making.