MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 19 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

Lil_Me_2

msmas wrote: »

Has anyone managed to get the right combination to qualify for the new DIY client at Gap? I regularly visit the said store anyway and am really keen to get it right. Any ideas?

The idea of the qualifying questions is not to test you on what you think are the right answers, but you need to answer them honestly as per your circumstances. Don't lie just to get access to the jobs!

TractorGirl327

Lil_Me wrote: »

It's that time of the weekend where all the RE jobs that were due this weekend end up back on the job board!! So if I really wanted to I could have placed a bet, gone out for a pub meal and finished it off with some cookies.

squeaky1055 wrote: »

I agree..I was actually in one of the egg shops and I did think to myself I could be MSìng this. Lo and behold when I got home it had magically reappeared on the available jobs cos someone must`ve dropped it! It was the same with an RE pub job, I walked past the door...could have done that one too! :mad:

It's those lazy people that pick up jobs, then can't be bothered to do them at the last minute and then release them. Drives me mad.

Lil_Me wrote: »

The idea of the qualifying questions is not to test you on what you think are the right answers, but you need to answer them honestly as per your circumstances. Don't lie just to get access to the jobs!

Exactly. (Says she who lies that she is a vegetarian so I don't pass the GapBuger test!!!!)

lovetowinacar

Are the Gap DIY all over the country? Cannot see any at present time.

Thanks:)

MysteryShopper_2

Hi this is my first post,

I recently took up mystery shopping with a well know company in December 2010 as a second job to boost my income. :beer:

At the time i wasn't aware i had to register with HMRC. Recently i signed up with another three companies to try and increase the amount of work i receive. Reading through one of the companies information pages it stated that it is my responsibility to make HMRC aware.:eek:

As i am also Employed on a full time basis within Local Government and therefore PAYE and pay NI contributions do i still need to register as self employed?

If i register as Self-employed with HMRC will i have to pay tax on the mystery shopping job as my annual income will probably be well under £2,000 (when combined with my main job my annual salary will be around £24,000)??

I know this may sound slightly ignorant; but how do HMRC actually take the tax from my Mystery Shopping from me? Would they just deduct it as extra tax from my main job in the following year?

Lastly i assume as i pay NI contributions in my main job i wouldn't need to pay any extra?

I am a bit confused and would really appreciate all your help and advice.

Thanks in advance for all your help :j

kman

I'm sorry jen_br if you're new here, I don't recognise your name, but if you're posting an alert, please can you make sure that it hasn't already been posted...

jen_br wrote: »

GFK have 3 weeks of work for LONDON only or those who can get to london -- for a bank job its not MSing per say it is PAYE and then you may have the opportunity to get regular perm work merchandising as and when they need -- check your main login page for the info not bad if you want some regular work.

PLEASE SEE POST 2426 - this was posted 3 days ago!

yonk

MysteryShopper wrote: »

Hi this is my first post,

I recently took up mystery shopping with a well know company in December 2010 as a second job to boost my income. :beer:

At the time i wasn't aware i had to register with HMRC. Recently i signed up with another three companies to try and increase the amount of work i receive. Reading through one of the companies information pages it stated that it is my responsibility to make HMRC aware.:eek:

As i am also Employed on a full time basis within Local Government and therefore PAYE and pay NI contributions do i still need to register as self employed?

If i register as Self-employed with HMRC will i have to pay tax on the mystery shopping job as my annual income will probably be well under £2,000 (when combined with my main job my annual salary will be around £24,000)??

I know this may sound slightly ignorant; but how do HMRC actually take the tax from my Mystery Shopping from me? Would they just deduct it as extra tax from my main job in the following year?

Lastly i assume as i pay NI contributions in my main job i wouldn't need to pay any extra?

I am a bit confused and would really appreciate all your help and advice.

Thanks in advance for all your help :j

It's different to your PAYE income, just like you would pay tax on property income as a separate entry on your Self Assessment Form. The instructions on tax are on the first pages of this thread. Have a read there; all the contact details you need are there too.

DevilsAdvocate1

MysteryShopper wrote: »

Hi this is my first post,

I recently took up mystery shopping with a well know company in December 2010 as a second job to boost my income. :beer:

At the time i wasn't aware i had to register with HMRC. Recently i signed up with another three companies to try and increase the amount of work i receive. Reading through one of the companies information pages it stated that it is my responsibility to make HMRC aware.:eek:

As i am also Employed on a full time basis within Local Government and therefore PAYE and pay NI contributions do i still need to register as self employed?

If i register as Self-employed with HMRC will i have to pay tax on the mystery shopping job as my annual income will probably be well under £2,000 (when combined with my main job my annual salary will be around £24,000)??

I know this may sound slightly ignorant; but how do HMRC actually take the tax from my Mystery Shopping from me? Would they just deduct it as extra tax from my main job in the following year?

Lastly i assume as i pay NI contributions in my main job i wouldn't need to pay any extra?

I am a bit confused and would really appreciate all your help and advice.

Thanks in advance for all your help :j

Yes, you still need to register. You only get one tax allowance, so as you already earn more than 5K you will have to pay tax on all of you mystery shopping earnings. Not sure about NI. You can deduct reasonable expensed from the mystery shopping earnings (the main ones being printing and mileage).

You need to register, then at the end of the tax year in April you will be required to fill in a self assessment form. You will need to enter all your income (job, plus mystery shopping) and it will calculate what you owe. They won't deduct it from you main job as they need you to fill in a self assessment form.

Be aware that if you don't inform HMRC and they find out you have been doing self employed work then you will be fined.

HTH.

Lil_Me_2

MysteryShopper wrote: »

As i am also Employed on a full time basis within Local Government and therefore PAYE and pay NI contributions do i still need to register as self employed?

Yep! It's really easy to do, you can either ring up or fill in a form. I rang up.

MysteryShopper wrote: »

If i register as Self-employed with HMRC will i have to pay tax on the mystery shopping job as my annual income will probably be well under £2,000 (when combined with my main job my annual salary will be around £24,000)??

As your total income is over the tax free threshold you will have to pay tax on all of your profit from your MSing. If you haven't already done so get a spreadsheet going now. You can claim some expenses (travel, printing etc) so this will come out of your "profit" - you'll pay 20% of your profit to the tax man.

MysteryShopper wrote: »

I know this may sound slightly ignorant; but how do HMRC actually take the tax from my Mystery Shopping from me? Would they just deduct it as extra tax from my main job in the following year?

If the total tax owed is less than a few thousand and you fill in your tax return by the end of Dec (not Jan) then you can request that HMRC take the tax off your PAYE job from the following April. This spreads the cost! Otherwise you need to pay all tax by the end of Jan.

MysteryShopper wrote: »

Lastly i assume as i pay NI contributions in my main job i wouldn't need to pay any extra?

No you won't as long as you earn less than £4k ish, but you will need to apply for a small earnings certificate. When you ring up to register as self-employed ask them about it and they will send you the form, or you can print the form online.


The first post of this thread will normally have most of the answers you could need about tax, so take a look there too!

cathj

Lil_Me wrote: »

You only pay tax once you earn over the threshold (which goes up next year). This is the case whether it's a PAYE or SE work. The census might take tax off you directly but when you input this into your tax return next year it will do the calculations and give you a rebate if you're due. Alternatively you can contact census and stop them taking tax.

Obviously if you already have a PAYE job that you pay tax on then yes you'll be paying tax on both the census work and your SE profit.

Thanks, I don't do any other work so that makes it simpler, I think.

Lil_Me_2

cathj wrote: »

Thanks, I don't do any other work so that makes it simpler, I think.

When I went from being a student to working full time in a PAYE job HMRC didn't take tax from me for a couple of months so I didn't have to worry at all. If you're confident that you won't earn over £5k incl the census work then I think you'll be able to ask them not to take tax.

When you come to fill in your online self assessment it asks you how much you earnt from each PAYE employer and how much tax you paid with each of them too and it will adjust everything at the end.

e.g My main PAYE employer took tax and NI and student loan, my second PAYE employer took tax but no student loan. When it came to my self-assessment they decided that I owed extra to my student loan which they hadn't taken from my second PAYE employer.