The Mystery Shopping thread - part 6

ruthiejane

I don't know about gift cards/vouchers as I haven't received any.

If you buy bus or train tickets you claim the cost of the ticket as an expense and it would be a good idea to keep the tickets in the file as proof of the expense.

josie

As per ruthiejane's 2nd comment - I claim the item I have to buy as an expense and the reimbursement as income. I don't keep them separate - my accountant just asked for 2 figures - income (reimbursements & fees) & expenses (mileage, parking, printing, bus fares etc.)

I'm sure in the same way you can claim the cost of a laptop as a business expense then you ought to be able to claim the bus pass. The tricky bit is, that I assume you have a bus pass for social purposes and / or other work - then it becomes difficult to allocate how much is MSing and how much other work or pleasure - a rough percentage maybe?

I treat my vouchers from Abai as income (well, they're like cash really, aren't they?) If you're already claiming mileage for a job, such as with TNS for example you can't then claim it again from the taxman - you'd be claiming the same thing twice!

ruthiejane

The same as Josie, all the tax man wants is 2 numbers. One the total of what you have spent in order to do mystery shopping, i.e. milage, transport tickets, printing, things you have had to buy, etc. The second number is the total that you have been given by the mystery shopping companies in return for doing mystery shopping.

You need to be able to prove how you arrived at those two numbers should the taxman ever ask, but you don't have to put anything else down on the tax return.

apcorbett

josie wrote: »

The tricky bit is, that I assume you have a bus pass for social purposes and / or other work - then it becomes difficult to allocate how much is MSing and how much other work or pleasure - a rough percentage maybe?

The advice given previously is that (for example) I can claim 1/365th of my annual season ticket for any MS that needs me to use it to get to it. Otherwise, of course, I would have to buy a ticket to get there, and that would cost more. Remember that you are not getting the whole 1/365th back, more that you are deducting this from your profit, to ensure that you aren't paying more tax than you need to.

fabsaver

paulherts wrote: »

Hi all

I have had a laugh today when reading my instructions for a Gap stamp shop job tomorrow.

It expects you to ask three questions:

One about car tax
One about coming off benefits
And the third that one of your parents has died and what to do about their card account.

Absolutely priceless, if you ask those three questions the staff member would think you were some kind of nutter. Do they actually consider what they are asking people to do?

Cheers Paul

I agree that it's completely ridiculous what they expect you to do. If it was just one or two questions it would look much more realistic. I thought that I would just grin and bear it until I saw the third question. I can't imagine that anyone who has suffered a similar family bereavement would feel comfortable with such a scenario.

In fact I cancelled mine as soon as I read the instructions. With other jobs we can usually see the instructions as soon as we book but not this one:rolleyes: I'm just waiting for them to try and sack me as a result and I'll tell them exactly why:mad:

nads

Haha that's funny, I wonder if you have to ask them in that order!

msmas

Hi, I've recently started Mystery Shopping with Gap, and am enjoying the (supposedly) free pizzas and burgers! Since there are loads of experienced shoppers around here, could anyone please let me know which of the main companies actually evaluate cinemas ... ?

Hollypear

msmas wrote: »

Hi, I've recently started Mystery Shopping with Gap, and am enjoying the (supposedly) free pizzas and burgers! Since there are loads of experienced shoppers around here, could anyone please let me know which of the main companies actually evaluate cinemas ... ?

Only one I know is Optimum Contact.

Timmne

josie wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by creaker
And, just to clarify, if I already have a full time job, does that mean I do not have to pay an additional £2.30 a week for NI contributions or do you pay that amount on each job that you have, i.e, once for my main job and once as self employed.

You need to pay this aswell (unless you have an exception certificate). They're different types; the one you pay in your job is class one, £2.30 per week is known as class 2, the one you pay on self employment income over ~£6k is class 4 (not usually payable on the likes of MSing income).

Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying here - are you saying that if we have a full time job (like myself) we would only need to pay class 4 NI if we earned over £6k MSing? Otherwise we do need to pay class 2?

I've been registered self employed for MSing and something else for a few years now, but never been asked for any additional NI contributions. Do I need an exemption certificate and should I be paying class 2? - Help please Timmne :A

[/QUOTE]

Wow I go away for lunch and look what happens!

Class 4 is only payable on each self employment's earnings over ~£6K and as Becles says, it will tell you online if you owe any. MSing will never earn you over £6k per year though in this day 'n' age so you needn't worry! (if you do need to worry, tips on a postcard please!)

Timmne

bulktrans wrote: »

Hello people, I would really appreciate if someone could please clarify ome quick doubts around Tax filing -

I have just made an excel sheet detailing my fee/re-imbersment or expenses etc , i need to check

1) if its okay to treat reimbersment as expenses so that i can minus them from the fee
2) how should i term 'gift vouchers' from Abai - will they come under expenses or as fee
3) i dont own a car so i used my friends car for some jobs and claimed mileage - is that allowed?
4) how do i calculate the total tax....

any help will be appreciated, i have to file the online version by the 31st....thnx a ton

Hi

3) No - if you don't incur a cost then you can't claim for it, simply! If you have to pay your friend to use their car, include this cost in your accounts (but get them to invoice you for it and make sure they're insured to do so)

HTH