Letter from the HMRC inv Ann Summers

fengirl_2

As she wasn't on the payroll, she will be looking for records of payments made to her as an agent which should be available for 6 yrs.

andrew71

Talking to my wife about this last night and she mentioned one of the ladies who still does Ann Summers who she had seen over Christmas. The conversation for some reason got round to taxes and the lady in question said she'd never been contacted by the tax office. This lady's been doing it for before my wife started and like I said is still doing it. From what I know she is one of the top planners in her area and from what I am lead to believe she does atleast 3 parties a week.
I think Ann Summers were taken over last year so could the auditors of been going through the books etc and found my wifes name and details listed or even could somebody of "grassed" us up. Which personally I think after so long is very strange think to do.

fengirl_2

HMRC can require organisations to give details of commission and other payments at any time....the powers are there in the taxes acts. Inspectors of Taxes live real lives and are aware of the kind of organisations which pay commission, etc. It only takes one of them to decide that is where they will trawl for evasion next.
People grass up tax evaders all the time - it could be a jealous neighbour, an ex spouse, or an ex employee. Don't dwell too deeply on it, as you are never going to know, just deal with the situation you are in.

Caroline73_2

andrew71 wrote: »

Talking to my wife about this last night and she mentioned one of the ladies who still does Ann Summers who she had seen over Christmas. The conversation for some reason got round to taxes and the lady in question said she'd never been contacted by the tax office. This lady's been doing it for before my wife started and like I said is still doing it. From what I know she is one of the top planners in her area and from what I am lead to believe she does atleast 3 parties a week.
I think Ann Summers were taken over last year so could the auditors of been going through the books etc and found my wifes name and details listed or even could somebody of "grassed" us up. Which personally I think after so long is very strange think to do.

She should be contacting the tax office herself, not waiting for them to contact her. Make sure your wife tells her friend to register as self employed asap as delaying it won't cause any problems.

It's interesting (to me) that I've only ever worked with companies that are members of the Direct Selling Association, who have strict guidelines on how their companies are regulated. Ann Summers aren't one of them, which for a party planning company that has been around to so long amazes me.

TM1976

andrew71 wrote: »

The conversation for some reason got round to taxes and the lady in question said she'd never been contacted by the tax office. This lady's been doing it for before my wife started and like I said is still doing it. From what I know she is one of the top planners in her area and from what I am lead to believe she does atleast 3 parties a week.

Is this because the other lady has declared some income from Ann Summers but your wife hasn't.

Ann Summers have to keep records for 6 years if they have paid your wife her name will be on that list. HMR&C can ask to see who Ann Summers have paid commission too, if someone on that list hasn't declared that income it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that tax hasn't been paid.

fuzzball172

Some accountants offer a free 30 min session to assess your situation and they will advise if they can save you money or not. Might be worth phoning a few.
The governemt are currntly targeting people on benfits, looking for any reason to kick people off them. Its all to do with statistics, it will look good to voters when they say the current government has reduced the benfit load to the tax payer by some huge amount. As far as the HMRC is concerned, somebody will have been given a printout of names and NI numbers of agents for a whole bunch of this kind of party planning, supposedly self employed people and are just going fishing to see what turns up. If it were someone grassing them up, I think it would be DWP investigating the case.

andrew71

Thank you for all the advice so far.
I understand we will need to pay tax but now we are concerned how much it would be.

We have had a statement from Ann Summers with the figures of what my wfe earned each time.
Over the time her sales were £24K of which 70% went to AS (£17K) Leaving 30% of my wife earnings which was £7K. 15% of that £7k went to the hostess leaving my wife at the end with an income of £6K (all figures are a round figure)

So if my wife earnt £6K for 18 months would this be counted as a full figure or should we break it down over the years 2004-5-6. In other words should we work out what the sales were for each year and then take it from there?

How much are you allowed to earn per year from small business before you have to pay tax?

TM1976

The personal allowance (income you can earn before tax) was the following

03/04 tax year £4,615
04/05 tax year £4,745
05/06 tax year £4,895

On the face of it your wif emay be inside these limits but this includes all income so you need to factor in salary from other jobs JSA etc.

dawnybabes

Also you can claim mileage allowances to bring the bill down.


Did she buy host gifts ?

Phone calls ?

littteminky

I had the same issue - well similar. Received a letter last april, for money I earnt through Virgin Vie from 2004 to 2009. (Tho 2008/09 was all personal orders) I never declared any of this to HMRC as after expenses etc I never actually made a profit - Very stupid of me.

The tax office were made aware of me being 'on the books' with Virgin after Virgin Vie was sold, so it's probably the same issue with AS.

I had to sign documentation when joining Virgin - it is stated in there about being liable to advise the tax office you are self employed, so if your wife signed a contract with AS (you couldn't join VV without signing the paperwork) then she she should have been aware (if it works the same)

I contacted Virgin Vie, and after paying a reactivation fee, I was able to log onto the system and get the information I needed for submitting to the tax office, it took me absolutely ages to put the information together, and I also had to collate information on mileage and expenses - I no longer had receipts, but went through old bank statements to see what I had spent and where, and the submitted the information. I was very lucky, and the compliance officer was happy with the information I had provided, and they closed the file without penalty to myself.

It was a very scary time - totally my own fault I know, and I wouldn't be so stupid again! Your wife should get all the information together that she can, the more she helps them, the better they will be with her. If she hides anything, and they find out, then they'll take it further. (I recall the woman telling me that they have 2 figures from VV - one was total sales, and one was the commission I earnt - Similar figures to your wife over my time frame.

I have a spreadsheet I can send which I used, if it's of any use to her.

HTH's.

x Minky