Complete Nightmare, I think this is gonna break me!

dibaby

Hi, im at looking for any that will help me make sense of whats going to happen. In June i left my old job in a salon to start a new one. I was working 16hrs a week and needed more hours, spoke to one of my two bosses about it and was told that there was no extra hours. So off I went looking for another one. I made an arrangement to go self employed in another salon to make some more money while still employed with the first one.

Kept them imformed all along everything was fine until the day i was due to start the other job I was told they didnt want me to work in both and had to choose one or the other. Second job was on a different day and would not affect this job.

In truth i hated working there, no holiday pay, warring bosses it was a nightmare however i needed my 16hrs to claim my tax credits (have one dd) would not survive without them. So went to second job and told the salon owner my dilemma. She wanted to help me out and wanted me to work with her so she told me to tell my employers she had offered me a job and that she would pay me £xx a day to qualify for my tax credits untill i got busy enough to go self emplolyed and rent a chair of her and not loose out on too much.

Excellent happy days, danced out of the other salon happily into my new job. Informed tax credits of the change of employer at renewal.

Heres the problem, got a letter from tax credits today asking to confirm details of my employment. Phoned them up and they were looking for a PAYE number so i said i'd ask my emplyer and phone back. Asked her and she said she doesnt have one she can go to her accountant and sort one out for me next week :eek:. So at first I said ok and as the day went on i realised the concequenses of this. I have been claiming tax credits with no proof of my income since June. Spoke on the phone tonight i explained as above and she said she thought she was doing me a favour by paying me the same as i had in my previous job until i was busy enough to go SE rent a chair.


This was a complete misunderstanding on both parts, as much as i hated my other job i would never had left if it meant loosing my tax credits. She didnt understand at the time about the tax credits and told me tonight she thought it was a kind of benefit.

One or both of us is in the poop now, im thinking its me! Im terrified ends barely meet as it is without this. If i cant prove ive been working there for the last while im going to have to pay it back. _pale_

Can anyone help, give advice, stop me from running away to mexico?!

Fiver29

How many hours have you actually been doing at this new job?

dibaby

16 to start off with can be up to 18

Fiver29

Have you been getting payslips/paying NI?

dibaby

No payslips but at my other job they didnt give them either (moneysaving) so i didnt question it.

Fiver29

dibaby wrote: »

No payslips but at my other job they didnt give them either (moneysaving) so i didnt question it.

If you're an employee they have to give you payslips, it's not a money saving choice not to. So were you classed as self employed, and is your new employer also classing you as SE? If so , you need to change your details at the tax credit office to self employed not employed.

dibaby

My last job were always on at me to not give payslips as it saved them money in the accountants!! Originally was going to rent a chair for extra hours at the second job, but once my original job spat the dummy out my now boss offered to pay me £50 a day and all my clients taking went in the till. Now to be fair i havent lived in the area since leaving school so my clients were essentially her clients (bar friends and family) as it was her salon they were phoning to and i was offered as another stylist. She offered this to get me on my feet ( so good of her) because i could not leave the other job and loose my tax credits and she wanted me to work in her salon. So it was a temporary thing with the view that when i got busy enough i would rent a chair of her. The missunderstanding is i thought she was employing me to start of with to make sure i could work there and still keep my tax credits and she tought she was helping me out to keep my income up as she thought tax credits was a benefit i was recieving anyway.

no-oneknowsme

OP , apologies but I have read your post a few times over and cant see what the problem is?

You were receiving tax credits whilst working at the old salon. You then left the old salon to go to the new salon , you worked 16-18 hours and were paid the same pay as in the old salon. You informed tco of the change of employer.....

What exactly IS your concern? Seems to me that you have done everything correctly?

dibaby

my concern is my new employer didnt put me on the books so no proof of employment, no paye number

Sixer

So your new boss is treating you as a self-employed sub-contractor and paying you £50 per day with your customers' payments going to her. But the standard way of being self-employed in a hairdressing salon is to pay rental for the chair and you keep the customers' payments? But you've told TCs you're an employee?

This has been since June?

Can you not simply register as self-employed now and fill in a self-assessment in April? June-October is all the same tax year.

Then explain to TCs that you thought you were employed but your boss thought you were self-employed? HMRC are surely aware that hairdressers often operate as independent contractors within salons.