MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 17 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

The_Pixi

Chocforever wrote: »

I am not sure where the £5k comes from, but in the 2010-11 tax year, the personal tax allowance is £6,475. This means you can earn £6,475 of income from any sources before you pay tax. However, if you are an employee, this will have already been factored into your PAYE coding, so if you earn more than £6,475 from your employment, you will not have any personal tax allowance left to set against your mystery shopping income.

You will end up paying your highest rate of income tax on the mystery shopping income, so if, for example, you normally pay some basic rate tax (20% income tax), you will pay 20% income tax on any profits you earn from mystery shopping until you reach the 40% tax band.

You will need to register as self employed. This is what tells HMRC that you have a new source of income and that they will need to collect the tax from this income via a tax return.

The fees earned from mystery shopping plus reimbursements are taxable income. There may be costs you can deduct from the income to arrive at the taxable profit. Tax deductible costs are those incurred wholly and exclusively for the assignment, and are typically printing costs, mileage, parking costs. Sometimes the cost of the purchase can be deducted (please see previous posts on this), but normally they cannot. For example, with groceries, you are not just getting them for the mystery shop (unless you destroy them all afterwards); instead you will eat or use them for personal benefit.

Hope that helps.

Ok thanks for your help. As I have done this only twice and earned £14 it doesn't seem worth it for the hassle. Also with regard to the shopping refund who is to know that I don't just bin it? Like I do with all the paper work sent to me as part of the programme.

The company running it always said that the shopping was not needed by them and I could do what I wanted with it, the impression given that it is just surpless to requirement and my payment is just £7. Is that not a gift? Like when Burger King sent me £5 postal order or harrods giving me £25 for doing a servey.

I can't see why the Tax people would not mind the Harrods payment but kick off about £14 for mystery shopping (on a ad hock basis, I don't do any other types of shop)

antk4

yonk wrote: »

I've done one job for QDOS and they're really nice. If you don't mind having mail come, say yes and if you do, say no. They would ask in advance anyway. Two companies use me to test how quickly posted things arrive and it's no hassle.

I did my first job for them thus week and they seem really friendly and down to earth.

Kimitatsu

serendipity2706 wrote: »

Can't decide what to do? I have so many jobs postponed now, I don't know whether to just not take any new ones in case the snow is here for weeks. I remember last year I was unable to get out the car for over 2 weeks!!! One thing I do know is, my next car is going to be a 4x4 but even that wouldn't get through over 2 feet of snow! Getting stressed with it all now!

I have a 4x4 though serendipity and I still cant get out - the farmer has been and snow ploughed the farm roads for us (bless him) but the council cant salt and grit the roads properly becausse of the amount of traffic on them which is stuck or cars which have been abandoned. Not to mention the fact the kids are home probably for the rest of the week because the schools are shut.

Would highly recommend a 4x4 (love mine) but honestly in this weather it wouldnt make a difference. I think that MS companies are hearing the same thing all over, I had one that has asked me every day to do a job 25 miles from me, and every day I tell them that the roads in and out are closed, only a few days ago the police had to take 60 cars off the hill into the town. Each day its a different person, they just dont have a perception of what the weather is like oop north, but once I explain it they have been very understanding.

I too have a lot of jobs pushed out to next week, so whatever we will all be busy!

duchy

Dunno why you think the snow is only up North !!!!

Plenty of areas in the South East are completely impossible too

ljshopper

"tell us what you think of the burger shopping programme"

Fill yer boots!!:j:beer:

jen_br

LOL I got that this morning!!

UMMMMM The Pixie please remove ALL client names and fees from your post!!!!

jen_br

The_Pixi wrote: »

Ok thanks for your help. As I have done this only twice and earned £XX it doesn't seem worth it for the hassle. Also with regard to the shopping refund who is to know that I don't just bin it? Like I do with all the paper work sent to me as part of the programme.

The company running it always said that the shopping was not needed by them and I could do what I wanted with it, the impression given that it is just surpless to requirement and my payment is just £X. Is that not a gift? Like when XXXXX sent me £X postal order or harrods giving me £XX for doing a servey.

I can't see why the Tax people would not mind the XXXX payment but kick off about £XX for mystery shopping (on a ad hock basis, I don't do any other types of shop)

wether or not is seems worth it isn't the issue if your going to keep on MSing you need to register. BTW you know you need to keep your paperwork for 3+months right? HMRC aren't stupid either you would be lying if you said you destroyed all groceries (who would throw out free groceries?) unless your donating them to chartiy then you have to claim.

LOL the payment is NOT a gift its PAYMENT for the job you completed... when you are getting payment from a company and your doing work to get that payment.. you need to claim.

The_Pixi

jen_br wrote: »

wether or not is seems worth it isn't the issue if your going to keep on MSing you need to register. BTW you know you need to keep your paperwork for 3+months right? HMRC aren't stupid either you would be lying if you said you destroyed all groceries (who would throw out free groceries?) unless your donating them to chartiy then you have to claim.

LOL the payment is NOT a gift its PAYMENT for the job you completed... when you are getting payment from a company and your doing work to get that payment.. you need to claim.

OK there are no client names in my post? Burger king I complained about and Harrods just phoned me up because I had bought a hamper. And the price I have given doesn't reveal the actual total if the shopping is to be part of the payment so no I won't remove anything.

I'm not keeping the repeated guide book on how to fill the form in that I'm sent each time and so I throw it out.

And the money returned is called the Fee and my shopping is re-imbursed and itemized separately. so it's not LOL it's a valid question as to what is a payment actually is, presumably they can't just assume I'm lying about disposing of the shopping they would have to prove it? After all the mystery shopping company are disposing of the shopping themselves when they say they don't want it, maybe I don't either.

Anyway thanks to the nicer post from a previous member Im not going to bother with it again because the way I see it the shopping is just free from the store.

Who would have thought that it would be so difficult, the Mystery shopping company didn't explain any of this to me when they asked me to do it.

borders

duchy wrote: »

Dunno why you think the snow is only up North !!!!

Plenty of areas in the South East are completely impossible too

Blame the media. We keep seeing SE reporters on the telly standing on a dusting of snow and going on about how bad it is and how they expect a whole 10cm to fall overnight. It gives the impression that there isnt really any snow in the SE. Just the media flapping again

Becles

The_Pixi wrote: »

The company running it always said that the shopping was not needed by them and I could do what I wanted with it, the impression given that it is just surpless to requirement and my payment is just £7. Is that not a gift? Like when Burger King sent me £5 postal order or harrods giving me £25 for doing a servey.

I can't see why the Tax people would not mind the Harrods payment but kick off about £14 for mystery shopping (on a ad hock basis, I don't do any other types of shop)

No you can't class money you have worked to earn as a gift.

You seem to want people to tell you that it is ok to commit tax evasion. I'm sorry but that won't happen on this forum.

You've been given good advice on how to register and pay tax/NI, and there is a lot of information in the first posts on this thread. It's up to you if you follow the advice or decide to perceive your earnings as a gift.

duchy wrote: »

Dunno why you think the snow is only up North !!!!

Plenty of areas in the South East are completely impossible too

But the North has been snowed in for over a week now, so ner :D

Still stuck in here and both schools are closed. Just watched a neighbour really struggle to get his car out of our street with lots of digging and pushing.

Think I'll stay in and rearrange my diary for a change!