going from benefits to self employment, advice please

lauram25

hey all

im currently a single parent on benefits, and i have seen some jobs advertised for adult texting work, this is something i did years ago and a friend of mine still does. she works 16hrs per week and gets only around £150 - £160 per month, cos obviously the pay is a pittance.

the trouble is when i enquired about money things with the lone parent advisor at the job centre, she said i could only take the job if i could prove id be working 16hrs minimum to get working tax credits and that they needed something from the adult texting company.

but im really confused, cos when talking to my friend and shes chatted with her manager, ive been told that i dont need to provide proof as its a self employment opportunity and that you just register as self employed and then contact the WTC office and tell them that i am working over 16hrs per week etc.

so what do i do?

how will the tax office know im actually working 16 hrs a week and give me tax credits? do they just take your word for it or what?

any advice would be greatly appreciated

nashly

I believe they take your word and do any adjustments when you tell them what you earned for that tax year when you do your accounts the following year that cover the tax year in question, so to begin with you estimate what you might earn for the tax year you are talking about.

Jowo_2

That works out at about £2.30 an hour...

Hammyman

Jowo wrote: »

That works out at about £2.30 an hour...

And? Last year I was actually earning £0 per hour on paper.

A profit in the first year of trading is quite good for most self employed startups.

Dontknowanymore

I have done chat line work in the past, but didn't get on with the company and think I dived into it without thinking it through and planning it all.
I have just signed up for another company and started this morning

I will be making a new claim for WTC, they do not ask for proof of your hours for being self employed (I can be 'available' for work for 4+ hours a day, even though I might not be speaking for the whole 4 hours) plus for this line of work I do alot of research online, I thought I knew alot about the sex industry but boy was I wrong! anyway, the reserching can count as working hours too, this would probably take up more than 3+ hours a week while I'm still learning.

EDIT: I wouldn't advise doing text work as a main income, it's not worth it.

Jowo_2

Hammyman wrote: »

And? Last year I was actually earning £0 per hour on paper.

A profit in the first year of trading is quite good for most self employed startups.

Yes, I know that you are an advocate for the self-employed having no profits on paper and that plenty of posters on this forum encourage people to set up 'self employment' even if there is no possibility of profit, just to maximise their benefit entitlement.

But there probably isn't really any great scope for growth with the OPs employment which pays around 30% of the NMW, is there?

But there are also posts which warn against this strategy because the HMRC are supposed to be getting wise about disguised self employment and fake businesses. I don't know how credible these reports are about a crack down on this type of activity.

I personally think its crackers that tax credits and other means tested benefits are encouraging people to set up essentially bad businesses with next to no profits or turnover. We seem to be turning into a land of avon ladies and ebayers... (apologies to the OP for going off topic).