Self employed on Working Tax Credits - Could I get LHA?

Horace

I am self employed, get WTC and get housing and council tax benefit. The way my council does it, is to send me a self employment form that I have to complete saying how much I have spent and provide details of income which I then send to them. I had to re-apply this year and sent them my tax return details but they wanted further information so sent it all and went and sat in the Neighborhood Office with my receipts (12 months' worth) so they noted down that they had seen them.

I don't go into my council every month to show them my receipts though as it is deemed to be unnecessary and not how they do things.

Remember that when you start self employment that you can ask for Class 2 NI Exemption.

HTH and good luck.

karenx

It all depends on the council what way they work it. I have recently went self employed and they have asked me for my projected income for the next 3 months. Then in 3 months time they will ask me for my actual income for the 3 months and projected income for the next 3 months. Then again at 6 months then will want to know actual figures for the past 3 months and projected income for the next 3.
So for that they will want to see my profit and loss account and the receipts to prove what I have put on it is correct.
Some councils only ask for it yearly. Some 3 months.

finance-boy

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure the woman in my local housing office said every month. I'll go in for another chat tomorrow perhaps.

Also, I meant to ask, I won't be claiming expenses (very small overheads) so no receipts, and most of my business will be conducted through PayPal, so will I just be expected to take print-outs of my inbound PayPal transactions or something?

Deepmistrust

finance-boy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure the woman in my local housing office said every month. I'll go in for another chat tomorrow perhaps.

Also, I meant to ask, I won't be claiming expenses (very small overheads) so no receipts, and most of my business will be conducted through PayPal, so will I just be expected to take print-outs of my inbound PayPal transactions or something?

You'll need to set up a system for recording your incoming and outgoing receipts. I'm assuming you have some knowledge of basic bookkeeping, if you are running your own business? If not, you might need to consult one - (you can also include their fees in your business expenses too - but they will already know this and do so on your behalf) I suppose it boils down to the kind of business you are running, and the kind of turnover you are expecting. But ALL businesses must keep records of income and expenditure.

If you keep on top of your books - at least weekly - then you should always have up-to-date books to show them. I doubt they'll ask you for the actual transactions involved (though they can at anytime) - they work on the basis that you will be declaring your profit/loss annually to HMRC.

I imagine they are more interested in your business accounts, than individual transactions. (As it would make no sense for them to look at individual transactions to calculate your profit).

(The transactions going through your paypal account doesn't necessarily show the profit of your business (as those transactions don't include your expenses)).

Even if you have low overheads, you still need to make sure all your expenses are accounted for (you'd be surprised at what you can claim as expenses, even working from home)