Question re the "magic" 16 hours to get WTC

HappyMJ

heretolearn wrote: »

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.

No need, but she would have to register as an employer and have appropriate insurance such as employers liability insurance in place which would cost much more than taking her on as self employed. If her employee is injured at work then she may be liable to pay compensation and also has to pay sick leave if she is unable to come to work and also holiday pay and must meet minimum wage regulations. If she takes her on self employed she doesn't have any of that responsibility.

[Deleted User]

You may find a problem as the hours are termtime only, so your average hours over the year are far less than 16 per week?

Also I must add and this is not a criticism in any way but I have been a single Mum since my Son was 10 Months old and I have never struggled with the work, life, childcare balance and I also lived 80 miles away from my Family. I think the Government do plenty to help single Mum's work. It's about getting the balance right, yes I too would be worse off in full time work than part time but I have never been unemployed. You just have to play around with the figures a bit and find what works well for you.

I hope you have managed to get some maintenance off the ex?

Sammyj0e

Deleted_User wrote: »

You may find a problem as the hours are termtime only, so your average hours over the year are far less than 16 per week?

Also I must add and this is not a criticism in any way but I have been a single Mum since my Son was 10 Months old and I have never struggled with the work, life, childcare balance and I also lived 80 miles away from my Family. I think the Government do plenty to help single Mum's work. It's about getting the balance right, yes I too would be worse off in full time work than part time but I have never been unemployed. You just have to play around with the figures a bit and find what works well for you.

I hope you have managed to get some maintenance off the ex?

when working a term time job they do not penalise you for the times you don't work, meaning you will still be entitled to WTC

www.
cpag.org.uk/cro/tax-credits/term_time_only_workers.htm

Sorry cant post links yet but you can copy and paste

duchy

If your 16 hours needs to be throughout the year you do need to find a way to "top off" so what about something where you make your own hours to suit like Avon or Mystery Shopping?

You could work more hours when you have time -and if it went really well you might even find it's worth hitting the thirty hour threshold. For example with say Avon it's not just the hours doing your rounds but also ordering time, paperwork and your expenses can be off-set against tax.

EDIT OK they don't but still hopefully useful info for you. Remember any Child support doesn't affect your TC so make sure your employed ex is paying what he should too.

oompahloompah

The threshold is increasing to 24 hours from April 2012 but I am not sure if this is for single parents as well as couples with children

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16992380

Sammyj0e

oompahloompah wrote: »

The threshold is increasing to 24 hours from April 2012 but I am not sure if this is for single parents as well as couples with children

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16992380

Only for couples and one person has to work at least 16 of those hours.

babyblooz

If you do get the job, there is always a chance that you may get extra hours as you go along. At our local school one lady has three jobs, as a cleaner before school begins, then as a classroom assistant and then as a dinner lady - and she is excellent at all three!

kizzykizzywizzy

Thanks for all your comments & help. I'm quite happy to work more hours, I asked if there would be any more available & they have said no.
You never know though, things may change & the experience & confidence I hope to gain from the job, may help me later along the line, if I get it??
Joannenotts, well done for managing life/work/kids so well, I hope I will be able to.
Just a bit of background, I have not been all that well, as before ex left ( complete shock after 21 years ) my Mum died only 66 also a shock, I had at that time been working as a dinner lady, also looking after my Nan, cooking her dinners, doing her shopping etc, as my mum had been doing this previously. My dad became very ill, due to my Mum dying & started drinking very heavily, very stressful to see him deteriate he died 2 years after my Mum & the next year my Nan died.
So, have had a lot of grief stress & depression. I have lost a lot of confidence & was getting panic attacks, I'm very nervous/scared about going back to work, I think people underestimate how hard it is, once you are off the working ladder. Up until having kids, I worked fulltime from leaving school & went back part time as dinner lady as soon as youngest went to school.
I went on benefits, when I needed them, which is what they are there for, I came off them as soon as I could & have been looking for a job to fit in with kids that I can do for a very long time. Just hope I get this

babyblooz

Awh bless you, life does knock the stuffing out of you sometimes so I wish you well with it all. I must say that working does give you a new look at life so good luck with it!