Disabled Ebay Seller's Tax Credits Stopped - Advice Please!

chrisotherwise

Magic_Fairy wrote: »

I think a photo of my stock room would show that I have invested a lot of time and money into this venture! I am struggling to get into the room! :rotfl:

I don't think it's fair to say I had no real expectation of making a profit. I wouldn't work my backside off without thinking I would make money from the venture. Sometimes when trends change, postage costs increase, ebay fees go up etc, a profit is harder to reach on a particular type of product so you have to let them go for a loss. That doesn't mean that I never intended to make a profit. Times change and I am trying to sell different items accordingly. As I said, I made a loss in the last tax year, that does not mean I have always done so or that I will continue to do so.

TBH, the biggest thing in your favour would be a set of accounts for your business. This doesn't need to be rocket science - just a valuation of your stock and a simple cashbook (money in/money out). In particular, the fact that you have a good deal of stock will count in your favour - it will show that you are indeed making a profit and are serious about continuing the business.

Herongull

The issue you may run up against in a appeal is:

Suppose you have a real business not a hobby eg if after buying the things you need, you add value and have a realistic expectation of re-selling in ebay's very competitive market at prices high enough to make a substantial profit after deducting transactional costs (realistic expectation not hope or wish or unrealistic expectation). Your profits in past years should generally have been enough to give you a net income of the order of the minimum wage or more if you worked full time.

Suppose you can demonstrate all this.

However you say that although your health was better in the past, in the last year (due to your disability) your productivity is sometimes only a fraction of that of a person in good health. Your condition is variable so you have good and bad days.

What fraction of your 32 hours worked were at times when you were well enough to have reasonable productivity? This may be relevant.

If less than 16 hours, then this might make you ineligible for WTC as you don't have a qualifying business, if at least 16 hours but less than 32 hours, then you might qualify for WTC at the lower rate as you would then have a part-time business.

Perhaps this is why they rejected your evidence of the periods of time when you worked very slowly due to ill-heath? Because it doesn't count in relation to qualifying for WTC?

If your business had become non-viable as full-time work due to disability, then you should have claimed a disability benefit and then worked up to 16 hours (on the good days) to supplement your income?

This sounds logical to me, but I'm a layperson. You need expert advice on all the potential issues.

bestpud

I can't understand why the OP having a disability and taking longer to carry out tasks means they can claim more hours?

Tax credits already make an allowance for disabled people by allowing them to claim when working only 16 hours, so how can the OP claim she works over 30 hours, and receive a premium for doing so, if she only works that many hours because she is slower at tasks?

The speed at which you work is surely irrelevant?

Otherwise, someone with dyslexia could artificially increase their working hours by saying they take longer to do their paperwork?

Or a 60 year old could do the same because they can't walk as fast to the post office with the parcels?

Why is that allowed? It's been puzzling me since the OP first mentioned it!

Could an employer say a disabled person works less hours because their productivity is lower, so the disabled person has to do 30 hours at work to accrue the 16 hours allowed for tax credits? I think not! So why does it work the other way round for self-employed people?

Spamfree_2

Leave the poor woman alone, at least SHE IS TRYING !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It can take me over an hour to do an ebay listing, and there's nowt wrong with me!

Spamfree_2

I don't agree at all.

If she was on here asking what she was entitled to, how much benefit could she get etc it would be a different story, but she's not.

I think she needs to appeal against the decision, and then look at specialist advice with regards to ESA and permitted work.

Magic_Fairy

bestpud wrote: »

I can't understand why the OP having a disability and taking longer to carry out tasks means they can claim more hours?

Tax credits already make an allowance for disabled people by allowing them to claim when working only 16 hours, so how can the OP claim she works over 30 hours, and receive a premium for doing so, if she only works that many hours because she is slower at tasks?

The speed at which you work is surely irrelevant?

Otherwise, someone with dyslexia could artificially increase their working hours by saying they take longer to do their paperwork?

Or a 60 year old could do the same because they can't walk as fast to the post office with the parcels?

Why is that allowed? It's been puzzling me since the OP first mentioned it!

Could an employer say a disabled person works less hours because their productivity is lower, so the disabled person has to do 30 hours at work to accrue the 16 hours allowed for tax credits? I think not! So why does it work the other way round for self-employed people?

This is what I am not sure about myself. I have told them how long it takes me to do certain things and provided medical evidence. They refused to consider further medical evidence as they said my Doctor doesn't know what tasks I undertake for my business. That is true but I wanted to prove WHY certain tasks are difficult for me. Under the old rules for Income Support a disabled person could be expected to to earn as little as 75% of that of an able bodied person. I know that rule has been scrapped now but I thought similar rules applied for all benefits. They haven't actually given the reasons for ending my claim yet so I can't appeal the decision. All I have to go on is a telephone conversation with an advisor who said she didn't believe I worked 32 hours a week (or words to that effect).

GlasweJen

You don't get tax credits for trying you get them for working!

I work 40 hours per week for an employer. I'm disabled but when all of the adaptions are well and working I'm expected to work at the same targets as everyone else. When I was off sick for months I wasn't working, I didn't get tax credits after a certain length of time because even though I was trying to learn to walk again and trying to use my left arm again I wasn't working.

There are other benefits for people who are trying, I got company sick pay but the OP could claim employment support allowance. ESA is for disabled people who are trying to get into work ( support group for those who couldn't no matter how hard they tried).

The OP appears to have been claiming the wrong benefit but it is the claimants responsibility to keep their benefits up to date.

A £1500 overpayment is alright, looks like they believe that the OP used to put in the hours but now doesn't because of disability so only reclaiming the last tax year (the OP does state she has got worse in the last year).

Repayment wise, they might ask for it all upfront but you can come to a payment arrangement with them. Draw up a SOA (template on debt free wannabe) and work how how much you can reasonably give. Write to them enclosing the SOA and they will put you on a repayment plan.

Sixer

Dognobs wrote: »

Not when you have been doing it for 2 years, She is TRYING......TRYING TO PLAY THE SYSTEM!

She's doing it because this is what DWP TOLD her to do. She was advised to claim tax credits and not ESA because she was working.

OP: as I keep saying, you need to a) appeal and b) get proper advice from CAB or similar, who will tell you how to phrase your appeal and assist you with sending information and evidence to the level HMRC will need.

In the meantime, if I were you, I would take screen grabs of my eBay account pages for the relevant dates. I would send this off together with a detailed breakdown of the time relating to them, eg:

Listings created - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
Correspondence and buyer feedback - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
Packing and posting - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
Laundering items - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
Customising and mending items - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
Buying trips - X number x Y minutes = Z hours
General admin/accounting - Z hours

Magic_Fairy

UPDATE: I have received 2 letters from the Tax Credit Office today. They want me to pay back approx £6500. I did keep them up to date, they knew I was disabled and they knew I was an ebay seller on a low income. If they thought I was receiving the wrong benefit why didn't they tell me shortly AFTER I renewed last years claim instead of waiting almost 14 months to do it? I couldn't care less which benefit they put me on, however I do care about being asked to pay back £6500 which I claimed in good faith.

eskimo26

Magic_Fairy wrote: »

UPDATE: I have received 2 letters from the Tax Credit Office today. They want me to pay back approx £6500. I did keep them up to date, they knew I was disabled and they knew I was an ebay seller on a low income. If they thought I was receiving the wrong benefit why didn't they tell me shortly AFTER I renewed last years claim instead of waiting almost 14 months to do it? I couldn't care less which benefit they put me on, however I do care about being asked to pay back £6500 which I claimed in good faith.

I still think you should contact your MP.

There are a lot of issues i'm seeing here about the way they have gone about things.

As for Dognobs don't waste your time, i've seen plenty of his posts and they would indicate he is as rough as his username suggests. He only ever comes on a thread to call someone a liar or a cheat, he is like the monkey from family guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qxPW63bZB0

I don't think OP is led astray by inaccurate posts she seems to have a reasonable grasp of tax credits, although i'm fascinated by the varied and interesting forays into fantasy that the 'i think it should be this way therefore it is!' brigade have taken with their reinterpretations of tax credits. :rotfl:

I have to ask if they have only seen 3 months worth of bank statements how can they claim so many more months of overpayment? Perhaps in the previous months it was different, it sounds like they've approximated it based on incomplete information? Or did they get hold of the rest of your information?

Write a letter to MP bullet pointing the relevant points and briefly mention how they treated you, send them a copy that should get the ball rolling.

If you need help with the letter just ask.