Fraud investigation income support, advice appreciated

Oldernotwiser

markyb1888 wrote: »

Welsh i dont know where to start with your post there are a lot of things a bit off the mark.

Firstly the only problem here is the money i won in november as it is capital that i realise has to be declared because it is over £16k saving.

Pretty much everything in your post isnt relevant as either way im over the £16k and which is all that matters , online poker and earning from online poker are perfectly allowed its just the £16k+ saving that arnt which has created the problem.

I have been playing poker for about 3 years but the only time i have crossed the £16k savings is through the televised tournament.

In regards to how i won my televised seat , i won it in a $1 sattelite.

I wouldn't be so confident about the £16K amount; savings/capital between £6K and £16K affect benefits as well and you need to declare anything over the lower level rather than the higher.

kittiej

Would this be classed as earnings/ income and not in fact savings?

I would imagine they are going to say it's your responsibility to inform them of any money over x amount.

I could sort of see that you could get confused about exactly what is classed as earnings, these days I expect everything is paid to you into the bank, at least when the old benefit books existed there was info on the back pages for you to refer to.

I wonder how many people win on scratch cards, lottery, bingo, horses etc and don't declare any of it, but then again perhaps people don't realise that this is something that needs to be declared?

Does the DWP have literature regarding winnings I wonder?

Oldernotwiser

markyb1888 wrote: »

It depends what you mean by a big win.

If you mean on a similar scale then no i thought gambling earnings where tax free , which they are but obviously i didnt realise the capital still has to be declared in relation to benefits.

If you mean millions then i wouldnt be concerned about any benefits.

You're still getting stuck on this "tax free" thing;the tax system and the benefit system are quite separate in most ways.

markyb1888

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You're still getting stuck on this "tax free" thing;the tax system and the benefit system are quite separate in most ways.

Yes ive figured this out now although this is where i was misguided and naive.

thorsoak

markyb1888 wrote: »

It depends what you mean by a big win.

If you mean on a similar scale then no i thought gambling earnings where tax free , which they are but obviously i didnt realise the capital still has to be declared in relation to benefits.

If you mean millions then i wouldnt be concerned about any benefits.

Err....when we "do" the lottery, we are gambling on the fact that we might win a large stash of dosh.......tens of thousands of pounds are just that! No "earnings" are tax free.......

It may be that the amount won comes into y/our hands tax free, but the income from it is just that .....income!

markyb1888

thorsoak wrote: »

Err....when we "do" the lottery, we are gambling on the fact that we might win a large stash of dosh.......tens of thousands of pounds are just that! No "earnings" are tax free.......

It may be that the amount won comes into y/our hands tax free, but the income from it is just that .....income!

I think ive figured this one out ?

thorsoak

markyb1888 wrote: »

I think ive figured this one out ?

What has taken you so long? A letter from the benefits office???

markyb1888

thorsoak wrote: »

What has taken you so long? A letter from the benefits office???

Again i think this has been covered.

Being naive and stupid and not understanding the working properly.

I made a mistake , granted a pretty big one but im sure a few people here have made mistakes before.

Welshwoofs

markyb1888 wrote: »

Firstly the only problem here is the money i won in november as it is capital that i realise has to be declared because it is over £16k saving.

But if you were playing poker before November and were relying on benefits, any money you were winning back then on poker should also have been declared to the benefits agency. That's what I'm getting at.

Pretty much everything in your post isnt relevant as either way im over the £16k and which is all that matters , online poker and earning from online poker are perfectly allowed its just the £16k+ saving that arnt which has created the problem.

But it is relevant, because if you've had a steady income coming in before November's big win and you were on benefits, you should have declared that income to them. If they question you on income from poker before November you're going to have to a better answer than "it isn't relevant".

I have been playing poker for about 3 years but the only time i have crossed the £16k savings is through the televised tournament.

I'm not talking about the savings threshold, I'm talking about on-going income from poker before that. Whilst poker winnings aren't taxed, the benefits agency would want to know about them. The forms ask you about all income you having coming in. In other words, let's say you were bringing in £3k a month playing poker...the benefits agency would certainly want to know about it if you were also claiming JSA, Housing Benefit etc.

markyb1888

I wasnt making a "steady" income before this.