Jobseeker's Allowance and other income

Baggiejim

Hi,

I am currently unemployed and have been receiving Jobseeker's Allowance since last Autumn. I undertook temporary, paid employment at Argos between November and January in which period I had to fill in 'B7' and 'A15C' forms to declare my pay.

However, having recently qualified in Photography at HND level, I have also been carrying out paid freelance work one day per week since November, and although I mentioned this to my Personal Adviser at the outset of the work, I was only told yesterday that I need to declare my earnings from undertaking the project. I have now been issued with another set of B17 and A15C documents, but they explicitly ask for information regarding the "employer". As this work is freelance as previously mentioned, I am confused about how to declare this relatively small amount of income.

Any advice would be welcomed.

[Deleted User]

you are i suppose affectively self employed and need to register as such with hmrc and declare your earnings

Baggiejim

woodbine wrote: »

you are i suppose affectively self employed and need to register as such with hmrc and declare your earnings

Oh right, it didn't occur to me that I may have to do that. I only earn £40 a week from the work I am doing (£25 a week until recently), but if it is sensible for me to declare that money to the government then I am definitely prepared to do that in order to avoid any problems in the future. Perhaps I am best to do some research regarding this.

joandkaz1

wont they knock those earnings off your jsa?

Baggiejim

joandkaz1 wrote: »

wont they knock those earnings off your jsa?

They haven't done so up to this point. I mentioned this paid freelance work to the Jobcentre at the outset of undertaking the work in early November (albeit not having anything in writing to prove that any such conversation happened), but just recently I found it strange that it had never been brought up at any of my appointments since then. At my last JSA interview on Wednesday I mentioned my concerns to my personal adviser and he said that I should have been declaring this money, so he gave me the forms I mentioned above to fill in and asked me to write a letter explaining my circumstances, all of which I should hand in to the Jobcentre ASAP.

Thankfully I have a record of all invoices that I have sent pertaining to my work and the pay that I have received for it. Will the Jobcentre simply deduct from my JSA after I give them the completed forms and a letter of explanation?

joandkaz1

i should imagine so if its income based. you are supposed to declare all wor done ...even unpaid x

Baggiejim

joandkaz1 wrote: »

i should imagine so if its income based. you are supposed to declare all wor done ...even unpaid x

That is very useful to know, much appreciated. As I say, I do at least have a record of all money that I have been paid and on what dates, so that should hopefully make the process a bit smoother. My only concern is that I don't receive payslips for the work that I do, therefore the only proof that I can give to the Jobcentre is a printout of my invoice database, printouts of my bank statements (for records of cheques paid in) and receipts of payment that I issue to my client after I am paid by them. Will this suffice?

joandkaz1

well sounds like you have everything covered. best way to be with the job centre as the are often rubbish.

Caz3121

they should allow you to keep the first £5 then the rest is knocked off £1 for £1 from the JSA, so if you earn £40, your JSA will be reduced by £35

[Deleted User]

of course if you are self employed you can deduct reasonable "cost" from the income