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Self Employed, no set hours and Working Tax Credit. Help Please.
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Edinburghlass wrote: »Says the person who was claiming unemployment benefit while being self employed
Yep that's me - so?
Working Tax Credits did not exist in the mid 80's!!0 -
Well said. Not forgetting most self employed start-ups will begin with a loss and gradually show growth (still under NMW level but moving in the right direction)
Can you post a link to prove this?
I don't think thats true, I've been self employed for 25yrs , know many self employed people and I don't think anyone made a loss during their first couple of years.. So please post proof of your claim, i'm happy to be corrected but I think your wrong.0 -
leveller2911 wrote: »Well said. Not forgetting most self employed start-ups will begin with a loss and gradually show growth (still under NMW level but moving in the right direction)
Can you post a link to prove this?
I don't think thats true, I've been self employed for 25yrs , know many self employed people and I don't think anyone made a loss during their first couple of years.. So please post proof of your claim, i'm happy to be corrected but I think your wrong.
It's a myth thrown out by those who say they are working every hour God sent in their 'new' self employed businesses (claiming max WTC's!).
"Mr Tax man, I am working harder than I have ever done and it will be, oh, at least two maybe three years before I start making any profits - in the meantime make sure I get my WTC's on time as I have no other income to live on"0 -
Oh right, not sure I am in the right thread, it seems a bit heated in here.
I have a question, but may have to look elsewhere for the answer, and I really do not want to be shouted at by people.
I have been made redundant, I know I now have to let the HMRC know as I get working tax credits. I think I will still get my child tax credits as my son is still in college til July, when they will also stop.
I have been very ill with pleurisy for 10 days, but will be phoning the tax credit line on Monday as I do not want to get into any type of trouble with them.
I have seen something online on this site today that I may be interested in doing, it is working from home, writing. I am also thinking of starting something up on ebay. I know I have to register myself as a sole trader I believe? Does that make me self employed?
I am not going to earn anything like I was earning but I will be working at least 24 to 30 hours per week going on what has been put here, about post office trips, and the online writing requires a great deal of research, so could see this being at least 30 hours if not more each week, but as I say it is not going to pay me the wage I was on. In fact I am note even sure it will pay the minimum wage, but surely a wage is better than being on the dole.
There is hardly any work out there, and my age will now go against me as I reach 59 this year.
I hope someone can give me some advice, I have always found this site to be extremely helpful, especially when I was very ill in 2007 and had to file for bankruptcy. Another point I need to establish, but that will be on the other board for bankrupts as to if I can even be a sole trader or self employed, are they the same thing even? I did not go bankrupt as a business, as an individual when a partner left me with a huge amount of debt, stupidly all in my name.
Thanks in advance, I am not someone who wants to scrounge off the state, I have worked all my life other than child caring breaks for my children, and never claimed the dole in my life. I just hope someone can give me some thoughts on what I have asked please.Some Days are Diamonds Some Days are Stones,Sometimes the hard times won't leave meBSC 162:beer:Banktupt 22 Oct 2008 at 10am!0 -
Oh right, not sure I am in the right thread, it seems a bit heated in here.
I have a question, but may have to look elsewhere for the answer, and I really do not want to be shouted at by people.
I have been made redundant, I know I now have to let the HMRC know as I get working tax credits. I think I will still get my child tax credits as my son is still in college til July, when they will also stop.
I have been very ill with pleurisy for 10 days, but will be phoning the tax credit line on Monday as I do not want to get into any type of trouble with them.
I have seen something online on this site today that I may be interested in doing, it is working from home, writing. I am also thinking of starting something up on ebay. I know I have to register myself as a sole trader I believe? Does that make me self employed?
I am not going to earn anything like I was earning but I will be working at least 24 to 30 hours per week going on what has been put here, about post office trips, and the online writing requires a great deal of research, so could see this being at least 30 hours if not more each week, but as I say it is not going to pay me the wage I was on. In fact I am note even sure it will pay the minimum wage, but surely a wage is better than being on the dole.
There is hardly any work out there, and my age will now go against me as I reach 59 this year.
I hope someone can give me some advice, I have always found this site to be extremely helpful, especially when I was very ill in 2007 and had to file for bankruptcy. Another point I need to establish, but that will be on the other board for bankrupts as to if I can even be a sole trader or self employed, are they the same thing even? I did not go bankrupt as a business, as an individual when a partner left me with a huge amount of debt, stupidly all in my name.
Thanks in advance, I am not someone who wants to scrounge off the state, I have worked all my life other than child caring breaks for my children, and never claimed the dole in my life. I just hope someone can give me some thoughts on what I have asked please.
If you tell HMRC you are working 30 hours self-employed, they are likely to pay you WTC (unless they do a pre-claim check). But the problem is that they could then investigate the claim if you are declaring 30 hours for a low wage. Many cases like this have cropped up and HMRC want all of the WTC back.
I think online writing is a difficult area. What you need to be able to show is that every hour you declare is 'qualifying remunerative work' and that means it has to be for payment or in expectation of payment.
Writing online is a bit of a grey area in my experience for tax credits. It very much depends on what type of writing you are doing, how you will get paid and whether there is a real expectation of payments.
In particular, research if you are a writer may not count unless you are an established writer (see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ccmmanual/ccm6755.htm)
If you are thinking of doing something like article writing or blogging then you will have a hard time proving that is in expectation of payment and persuading HMRC that time spent browsing the web is in expectation of payment.
EBAY isn't as difficult but you need to have a realistic expectation of selling items.
I would suggest if you go ahead with this you keep a diary and record EVERYTHING business related so you can give a breakdown of hours if asked.
I would also suggest you look into the writing more and think about how you will earn money from it.
IQ0 -
I asked in another thread and no one seemed to know.
What if you came off ESA or are a carer and work self employed for a few hours a week. Would under UC you be expected to earn MW for 35 hours even though its impossible to do so?0 -
If you tell HMRC you are working 30 hours self-employed, they are likely to pay you WTC (unless they do a pre-claim check). But the problem is that they could then investigate the claim if you are declaring 30 hours for a low wage. Many cases like this have cropped up and HMRC want all of the WTC back.
What is a pre claim check? I have to come off work based WTC as it would be illegal for me to carry on claiming it, and I believe I have one month to notify them. I was made redundant on 31 March, so will be calling them next week.
I am not sure what to do, I know I need to register as a sole trader if I am going to be self employed, or I think I have to. Maybe I better research that area first to find out what I need to do.
If I do two different types of jobs ie one selling on ebay and one writing on this textbroker site I imagine I will have to complete two sets of accounts!! shucks I am useless at maths! However the actual work will all be computer based, as I say I am seriously not sure of what I need to do, let alone what I can apply for WTC wise. I know I will need to put in a lot more hours than 30 to even make this work, but I am prepared to do that.
My youngest is now almost 19, my 78 year old mother also lives with me, and my time is my own other than cooking and cleaning, oh and washing mum does the ironing! So I can be totally flexible on the hours I work and the days. I am more than happy to sit typing all night as I am not a TV buff either.
Perhaps there is someone here that knows something about being self employed I know people walk dogs and other part time bits and bobs and are self employed, so know it must be possible to do two different types of self employed work.
Many thanksSome Days are Diamonds Some Days are Stones,Sometimes the hard times won't leave meBSC 162:beer:Banktupt 22 Oct 2008 at 10am!0 -
Rylynn, if you go to the Business Gateway website, there are lots of links that help you deal with all those questions, and they run workshops about bookkeeping etc, to help you get going.0
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Icequeen99 wrote: »I think online writing is a difficult area. What you need to be able to show is that every hour you declare is 'qualifying remunerative work' and that means it has to be for payment or in expectation of payment.
Writing online is a bit of a grey area in my experience for tax credits. It very much depends on what type of writing you are doing, how you will get paid and whether there is a real expectation of payments.
In particular, research if you are a writer may not count unless you are an established writer (see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ccmmanual/ccm6755.htm)
If you are thinking of doing something like article writing or blogging then you will have a hard time proving that is in expectation of payment and persuading HMRC that time spent browsing the web is in expectation of payment.
I'd be interested to know more about what's acceptable here.
Would someone with a blog that already generates an income from advertising count as an "established writer", so that time spent on new articles counts as qualifying remunerative work? If so, what sort of level of income is needed? £1k/year? £5k/year? Minimum wage equivalent? If not, what are the criteria?0 -
What is a pre claim check? I have to come off work based WTC as it would be illegal for me to carry on claiming it, and I believe I have one month to notify them. I was made redundant on 31 March, so will be calling them next week.
I am not sure what to do, I know I need to register as a sole trader if I am going to be self employed, or I think I have to. Maybe I better research that area first to find out what I need to do.
If I do two different types of jobs ie one selling on ebay and one writing on this textbroker site I imagine I will have to complete two sets of accounts!! shucks I am useless at maths! However the actual work will all be computer based, as I say I am seriously not sure of what I need to do, let alone what I can apply for WTC wise. I know I will need to put in a lot more hours than 30 to even make this work, but I am prepared to do that.
My youngest is now almost 19, my 78 year old mother also lives with me, and my time is my own other than cooking and cleaning, oh and washing mum does the ironing! So I can be totally flexible on the hours I work and the days. I am more than happy to sit typing all night as I am not a TV buff either.
Perhaps there is someone here that knows something about being self employed I know people walk dogs and other part time bits and bobs and are self employed, so know it must be possible to do two different types of self employed work.
Many thanks
A pre claim check is where they will ask for evidence of your self-employment before they pay out on the claim. This is in reference to a brand new claim.
If you start self-employment within 7 days of your employed job finishing then your existing claim to WTC will continue.
I don't know a lot about textbroker, but just having a quick look at it I am not sure how you will show you are working for payment or in expectation of payment as it looks as if you can do the work but then the person may not pay or accept it. I may have got that wrong though.
IQ0
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