The Mystery Shopping thread - VIII

jdan9

I personally record the TOTAL PAID by the company then the TOTAL COSTS I have incurred.

e.g. fee £5 reimb £3 = £8 PAID

Spend £2.89 = £2.89 COST

= £5.11 taxable profit

(This is assuming the company is one which lets you have the full reimbursement of course.)

EDIT: I think I misunderstood the question! (Damn, that's the second time I've done that in two days!)

I believe the correct answer is, it it's something you can take home and keep, it's taxable. My personal view is, if it's something I wouldn't have bought were it not for the fact it's work, it's not taxable pay.

Scaredy_Cat_3

jdan9 wrote: »

I personally record the TOTAL PAID by the company then the TOTAL COSTS I have incurred.

e.g. fee £5 reimb £3 = £8 PAID

Spend £2.89 = £2.89 COST

= £5.11 taxable profit

(This is assuming the company is one which lets you have the full reimbursement of course.)

Same here. I record the fee plus reimbursement as money IN and everything I had to spend as money OUT (ie petrol, required spend, printing etc).

As for broadband and phone, I have an inclusive package and I allocate 50% of the cost each month to MSing as I think this is reasonable. I don't bother with the spare room allowance as this is too complicated for little ol' me.

gallygirl

Tesco_points_addict wrote: »

Can I just check something please?

I have read the first page (thanks to everyone who contributed) so I understand the mileage and printing allowances but......

For tax purposes if I am doing a supermarket shop and they require me to spend £3, they pay me £5 for doing the job as well as the reimbursing me the £3 I had to spend. Do I count the £3 I HAD to spend as taxable pay?

I understand if I do an 'eat in' job then the reimbursment for the food is not classed as taxable pay. :j (Is this right?)

Also what do you all claim towards your broadband/telephone, computer costs and spare room as an office costs? Is there anything else I should be offsetting against my 'wages' from MSing?

Thank you all in advance.

TPAx

Not sure about the taxable pay TPA but I do know about the others. If you can 'prove' to the taxmans satisfaction that 25% of computer usage is for MS then you can claim 25% of cost, spread over average life of computer, whatever that is, either on a straight line basis, e.g. 25% a year for 4 yrs, or front loaded, e.g. 50% 1st yr, then 25%, 15% 10% to take into account the way value drops.
Again, with broadband costs if you can 'prove' % spend you can claim.

The same applies to office space. However, you do need to be careful as if say 10% of your home was classed as this & it was used wholly for business & 10% of relevant bills such as gas were claimed as a business expense you would be liable for capital gains tax on 10% of the capital gains of the house. Unlikely to be an issue if only 10% as you do have a CGT allowance and capital gains not exactly high in property at the mo, but worth bearing in mind. TBH, I think it's more trouble than it's worth, I just make sure I claim every sheet of paper printed etc.

Quasar

My favourite company, Service Scan, are looking for new shoppers in the South East. I live in London and have worked for them a long time. They are good payer and give good allowances but their questionnaires are very long and detailed. They do restaurants, cafes and some posh shops. They pay gross so you have to take that into account for tax purposes, and they pay fortnightly which is good.

They told me they are looking for people in Reading, Aldershot, Guildford, High Wycombe and Sandhurst. If any of you want to call them their number is 0115 958 4727.

ukmonkey

I'm sorry, but has anyone noticed:

Quasar
Mega Magnificent Maxi-Meticulous Uber-MoneySaving Magnate
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Far, far away
Post Count: 66,966 <-- You need to get out more methinks! :-)
Thanked 96,266 Times in 49,156 Posts



---

!!!!!!?!?!

jdan9

Quasar wrote: »

My favourite company, Service Scan, are looking for new shoppers in the South East. I live in London and have worked for them a long time. They are good payer and give good allowances but their questionnaires are very long and detailed. They do restaurants, cafes and some posh shops. They pay gross so you have to take that into account for tax purposes, and they pay fortnightly which is good.

They told me they are looking for people in Reading, Aldershot, Guildford, High Wycombe and Sandhurst. If any of you want to call them their number is 0115 958 4727.

Do you have a website address for them by any chance?

brryssn

Hollypear wrote: »

Following on from the discussion on describing people. Does anyone have the same problem as me or am I dyslexic or just thick.

It is spelling some words. When do you say enquiry and when do you say inquiry. The other one is "This pub had a nice ambience or should that be ambiance,"

Please tell me some others have this problem.

Hiya Mrs!:D

As far as I know, you can use either spelling - I use AMBIANCE.

Back to the load of reports I've got to do tonight.......................

jdan9

ukmonkey wrote: »

I'm sorry, but has anyone noticed:

Quasar
Mega Magnificent Maxi-Meticulous Uber-MoneySaving Magnate
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Far, far away
Post Count: 66,966 <-- You need to get out more methinks! :-)
Thanked 96,266 Times in 49,156 Posts



---

!!!!!!?!?!

Excuse me monkey, I was accused of being discourteous to you earlier! (Which I wasn't intending btw, but probably didn't phrase it very well. Don't start a flame war on me.)

Be nice to the megaposter now. They are gods.

Quasar

jdan9 wrote: »

Do you have a website address for them by any chance?

I don't as we deal with them either via phone or via email to individual persons and I'm not sure I should post email addresses - the phone number I gave is their main switchboard. Judging by your location as it appears under your username, I doubt they have need in your area but it's always worth ringing them up.

jdan9

Quasar wrote: »

I don't as we deal with them either via phone or via email to individual persons and I'm not sure I should post email addresses - the phone number I gave is their main switchboard. I've PMd you.

No worries - yeah, probably best not to post email addresses really. Ta for the PM.