Question re the "magic" 16 hours to get WTC

kizzykizzywizzy

Hope this is in the right place.
I have applied for a job, working in a school as term time & fits in with kids, only 15 hours, have asked if it could possibly be more & was told no.
Obviously I have to get the job 1st, but can I make up my hours, by volunteering for an afternoon in a charity shop, so that then I would have over 16 hours??
I am asking here as after ring a premium rate number for the job centre & being put back to the switchboard 3 times, being cut off once & then getting through to someone who didn't know & gave me a number for the tax office ( also premuim rate ) that doesn't exist anymore & then sitting in queue forever with tax office, I'm a little bit frustrated - hope someone here can help me
Thank You in advance

HappyMJ

Volunteering doesn't count for working tax credits. You have to do work in expectation of payment no matter how small so a cleaning/ironing job for a neighbour/friend for an hour a week for £6 is acceptable.

Sammyj0e

HappyMJ wrote: »

Volunteering doesn't count for working tax credits. You have to do work in expectation of payment no matter how small so a cleaning/ironing job for a neighbour/friend for an hour a week for £6 is acceptable.

Would you then have to register as self employed?

kizzykizzywizzy

Thanks for that, so could I just do ironing for my Sister, fill out a piece of paper saying she's paid me £6 & that would be enough?? I don't think I would have to pay tax with the job as only £5,500 per annum, just anything will be better than nothing as living on inheritance money & it's dissapearing fast!! I really DO NOT want to go back on to benefits EVER EVER again - excuse the shouting x

kizzykizzywizzy

Sammyj0e wrote: »

Would you then have to register as self employed?

I'd be interested to know this too

soolin

You would have to prove your hours so if part of the eligible hours were due to self employment then you would need to show that as a proper income and declared to HMRC (even if no tax was then payable)

want-it-all

kizzykizzywizzy wrote: »

I'd be interested to know this too

Yes you should register. It's quick and easy, and the 'worst' thing you'd ever have to do is fill out an annual tax return. No tax - or even NI - should be due because of the very small overall income you have, but you still need to submit your figures every tax year...

...and, working that extra 1 hour is legit and totally fine for WTC purposes, so long as you're undertaking work for which you expect to be paid (and, ideally, are being paid for - there appears to be a clampdown as of late on self-employed people working long hours for extremely low sums of money for the purposes of WTC). I'd recommend you keep records of all work undertaken, though, even if it is for your sister.

kizzykizzywizzy

Thank You very much, that has made me even more excited about hopefully getting this job. I will be about £50 better off a week plus any money I may get for ironing, or other little jobs I may get. I know it's not a huge amount, but it all adds up.
I should have come here first & asked - you're so helpful thanks again

want-it-all

Just realised that NI MAY be due, since your employment and your self-employment combined would pass the threshold for Class 2 NICs (only by a bit). You'd have to check on that, though, since I'm not sure how it works when both employment and self-employment are involved...give HMRC a ring?

The good news, though, is that Class 2 NICs are a whopping £2.50 per week

kizzykizzywizzy

Thank You I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to it, but for £2.50, I will gain that extra bit of WTC, which will enable me to work for my family & get some self respect back.
Fingers crossed
Whilst I'm here, I'd just like to say it's really hard when you are put in situation where you can't afford to work ( me because my ex husband cheated on me & left ) I had to give up work, not only because I was so ill afterwards, but because I would not have had any help from the government & so could not afford to work - how bad is that?
Meanwhile my Ex & the married woman he went off with are both on reasonable wages, are not made to feel scummy, because they both work & yet have both cost the tax payer quite a bit of money in benefits, up until I was able to come off of them (due to a bereavement & being left some money)
I know no-one has said anything nasty on here at all to me, in fact you couldn't have been more helpful, but since being on benefits, I will never judge anyone the way I have been judged by people in general.
I just wish the government would help single parents to get back to work, I know they will help with childcare, but I have 2 children, I would be worse off working a fulltime job than this termtime one, because of the costs I still would have to pay.
I hope I haven't come across as a moaner, I just wanted to put a point across.

heretolearn_2

No need to register as self employed, your sister could employ you directly.

On this amount, combined with another very small amount of earnings at your main job, she wouldn't need to register with HMRC to do PAYE or worry about NI/tax.