advice for the self employed..

chippychip

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so be gentle with me!
I have my own business FixIT (fixitengineers.co.uk) and was started last May.
Things went pretty well at first, orders came through thick and fast, and even my ex employer threw me work my way as he knew my track record for training folks how to use software that was provided to them, in a no nonsense style! I bought a van, bought essential equipment and software to do the job right. Things were looking good, despite starting the business at the end of a harsh recession!

However, in the last 2 months, things have come to a head- another recession has started, and I began to suspect that folks were hesitating to have their PC's and laptops repaired.. It seemed that folks had other expenses to cover first, which i understand. Work has almost dried up, I haven't heard for a while from my old company and I'm starting to dig into my savings.. My savings could keep me for a while, but It's not a good feeling to let my hard earnt savings go to waste..

The main reason for writing is for advice. I have just discovered that I could claim working tax credits, something I had no idea that I could claim! but I'm asking if there is anything else I could clim for? I have a 19 yer old daughter living with me, so I don't know if that could affect anything I could get.

I'm really trying not to claim JSA, as my experience of the job centre hasn't been good.. and the idea that I have to look for work, and record my efforts seems pointless when I have a business anyhow! I can remember one of my meetings at the job centre, when a member of staff said "look forget the idea of starting a business, that's a waste of time, you just need to get a job.. He thought my idea was just a pipe dream, forget that, and look for work...

Anyhow thanks in advance for any help given from this forum.
Graham :T:T

HappyMJ

You can only claim working tax credits if you are actually working 30 hours a week. If work has dried up it's unlikely you are actually working 30 hours. Your daughter is too old for you to get anything for her but it won't affect anything you can claim except maybe council tax benefit if she earns too much you would only get a second adult rebate or a non dependant deduction would apply to the claim. If she doesn't earn anything you could claim full council tax benefit with a small non dependant deduction.

Barbeduk

DH and I have our own business and it is really tough out there at the moment. Because of this, DH also works (on a S/E basis) for 3 other businesses, all outside of our catchment area. Is this anything you could do? It really helps with the cash flow. Does mean he now works 6 days a week but otherwise we'd have to give it up.