MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 18 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

jen_br

well see ESA say yousr suppose to give your eggs away for that reason

forestroxydog

Yes with the ESA ones that is fine I don't eat them but with the Gap ones or TNS ones what happens?

Becles

StacFace wrote: »

In relation to tax returns if I do a job whilst still in this tax year but don't get paid for it until next tax year which year's income do I include it in? I've been keeping a spreadsheet as I go along and have the dates of when I did and got paid for everything but have just realised I don't know whether to start a new one with the first job I do in the next tax year or the first pay I receive.

It depends what method of accounting you are doing.

If you are doing accrual accounting, you enter the payment and everything for the job on the day you did the job even though you won't get the payment until x weeks in the future.

If you are working on a cash accounting basis, you record transactions as they happen, so expenses recorded today for work done today, and payment recorded at some point in the future when you actually have it.

As MS work makes such small profits, either method is fine.

borders

what reimbursements count as taxable gets discussed quite often. Some people have different viewpoints on it. If you have to buy a meal as part of the job then thats not taxable. I would say that buying fuel is taxable as you benefit from it. I would also include a grocery shopping as taxable. If you have to buy a specific grocery item as part of the job, then possibly not, as long as you dont benefit from it...i.e. throw it/give it away. I certainly take reimbursement amounts into consideration when deciding if I'll take a job or not.

If I'm not sure, I tend to err on the side of paying tax. Thats my personal opinion as I take the view that I dont want the tax man to get too interested in my affairs if they decide to audit me.

StacFace

forestroxydog wrote: »

Hi All

Sorry to ask yet another tax question but last one from me I promise.
How does the benefit part of the tax return. For eg I have done a food shop to spend x and got x reimbursed but do I need to declare that as a benefit as I have eaten the food?
Also sort of the same if I purchased a computer game or brought Fuel are these benefits?
Thanks in advance x

It depends if you have to eat the food to do the report. E.g. if you bought a burger for GAP and there is a question in the report asking if it tasted fresh then it would not need to be declared as a benefit, as you had to eat it.

If, on the other hand, you did an egg shop for ESA and you had to buy the eggs but did not have to consume them then you would have to count them as a benefit if you did consume them.

The computer game would count as a benefit unless you donated it to a charity without playing it first, and the fuel would also count as a benefit.

mysterious_girl

Ohhhh, this is interesting! Just googling around and found a MS company who shows what they charge their clients for different assignments. For example, they charge £65 for a sandwich visit! So that's a bit of a difference to what RE give you for a sandwich visit isn't it? I understand they're the middleman but surely wouldn't £15 be a bit more fair?

mysterious_girl

mysterious_girl wrote: »

Ohhhh, this is interesting! Just googling around and found a MS company who shows what they charge their clients for different assignments. For example, they charge £65 for a sandwich visit! So that's a bit of a difference to what RE give you for a sandwich visit isn't it? I understand they're the middleman but surely wouldn't £15 be a bit more fair?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand......for a car dealership they charge £175 plus VAT and for a telephone call they charge £55 plus VAT.

Are we getting ripped off or what?!

Looking into starting up on my own now. This is rediculous. Cut out the middleman. We're getting robbed.

borders

To be fair the MS company still need to do their own work and pay their own staff. It's not just our fees involved. There may be some general analysis of the national results to be done and thats another cost factor. They dont just give results for our individual assignments, they look for trends and should be suggesting and briefing solutions as well.

If anyone does want to start their own company at better rates, please please let me know.

mysterious_girl

borders wrote: »

To be fair the MS company still need to do their own work and pay their own staff. It's not just our fees involved. There may be some general analysis of the national results to be done and thats another cost factor. They dont just give results for our individual assignments, they look for trends and should be suggesting and briefing solutions as well.

If anyone does want to start their own company at better rates, please please let me know.

And that's why I thought £15 for us would be fairer than a fee that wouldn't even cover a bus fare. They might get more reliable shoppers that way - and we might make an effort to spend more time on reports so that they are just the way they want them with loads of detail. Who wants to spend 30 minutes doing a report after a mystery shop for such a paltry fee.

borders

I agree with that. i do take more time and care with the companies that pay better.

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Mmmmmm.....peanuts.