Mystery Shopping Thread 22 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES*

MysteryMe

mskitten2904 wrote: »

I have my first job with checkout uk this week and I wondered if anyone has had any experience with them? Are the reports more detailed or straight forward? They say they pay within 30 days, is this normal procedure?

I did my first jobs for them last weekend so not been paid as yet but the reports on the prophet system were very easy. The job instrutions were clear and not heard anything so assume everything is OK.

yonk

mskitten2904 wrote: »

I have my first job with checkout uk this week and I wondered if anyone has had any experience with them? Are the reports more detailed or straight forward? They say they pay within 30 days, is this normal procedure?

I work for them but haven't really noticed any issues...so all good. Any problems, give them a ring, really nice people.

They do pay promptly tho!

jen_br

Yup I was waiting for some money for checkout and called got paid that day... lovely people.

afm_2

Thank you everyone for all the helpful posts!

So, if I get a MS where I have to buy a meal of £4 and I receive a fee of £2, does that mean that £6 is considered profit? Or is it considered an expense needed to do the job?

In my view, given that I wouldn't have a meal out if it wasn't for the MS, then it should be considered an expense, right?

Also, if I get a MS where I have to buy a meal of £4 and I receive no fee, then you are saying that £4 is profit? Shouldn't it be considered a freebie or a job that made a loss (given that I've paid the meal plus petrol to get there)?

Sorry to bother, I'm just asking to be sure.

Lil_Me wrote: »

Assuming you have a full time job as well and pay tax in that then you'll only pay tax on the profit of the job.

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed response!
I don't have a full time job at the moment. Does that change anything?

Big_Graeme

afm wrote: »

So, if I get a MS where I have to buy a meal of £4 and I receive a fee of £2, does that mean that £6 is considered profit? Or is it considered an expense needed to do the job?

It would be an expense as a general rule.

afm wrote: »

Also, if I get a MS where I have to buy a meal of £4 and I receive no fee, then you are saying that £4 is profit? Shouldn't it be considered a freebie or a job that made a loss (given that I've paid the meal plus petrol to get there)?

The £4 would be considered as profit and you would take off your expenses like mileage and printing.

Many here won't do reimbursement only work because the tax implications are so vague.

yonk

If you're not working, you can sort out a exemption certificate so you don't pay NI. You still have to declare your tax, even if you then get a refund or don't pay anything. You can earn up to your personal allowance before you pay tax. Read the tax post in the first few posts of this thread.

clippy_girl

it might be helpful to ask yourself why you did the job when you are trying to decide how to put it down.

for example, supermarket job pays £10 with a £1 reimb, you did it for the fee so £10 is taxable, £1 is not as that was incidental to why you did the job

book shop is £10 fee, £5 reimb, again you do it for the fee so no tax on the £5

meal no fee, £30 reimb- there is no fee so generally you have done this because you 'wanted a free meal'. you will pay tax on the £30 but as usual will make deductions for fuel, printing, parking etc...

as stated there will be some circs where you have done reimb only jobs to get better jobs but these will be rare and wouldnt really apply to the likes of re etc.... as they are all fastest finger first jobs so another shopper may get the next ones anyway .

i think the same thinking will apply to 'loss making' jobs that i know some people on here do. if you are asked by hmrc why you travelled 50 miles and paid £5 parking for a £15 supermarket what excuse do you give? generally if you are doing it to help a co out they will give you extra

Lil_Me_2

afm wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed response!
I don't have a full time job at the moment. Does that change anything?

You're welcome!

It will make a difference, but I can't give you full details unfortunately! I work full time and do this part time so I can give good advice on that side of things, but there are so many other variables if you work part time or if you're in receipt of benefits.

Others will have a better idea of the impact of what will happen if you need any more advice. It takes a little time to get all set up, but if you wanted to you can make a reasonable amount of money from mystery shopping.

dazza.mk

yonk wrote: »

If you're not working, you can sort out a exemption certificate so you don't pay NI. You still have to declare your tax, even if you then get a refund or don't pay anything. You can earn up to your personal allowance before you pay tax. Read the tax post in the first few posts of this thread.

Again it can help to get advice, as in certain circumstances it may actually be beneficial for you to gain some NI contributions.

afm_2

Thank you all! You have been very helpful.

I think that now I know what to do thanks for making things clearer for me!

Just a final question: what should I do about the job I did about a year ago that was reimbursement only? I only did it because I wanted to try MS and because it is nice to have a free meal. I thought that I wasn't breaking the law as I thought it was a freebie. Also, the hmrc had told me before that, if the income was not regular, then I didn't have to register as self-employed -- and this wasn't regular. Do I have to communicate that job to them now? What will happen if I do?