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

Sixer

princessdon wrote: »

But IQ - How do you prove it takes you say 2 hours to wash and iron an item of clothing that takes say me 30 mins max?

AFAIK (and yes I don't have your knowledge so you can help with this), they don't allow for "over reasonable time adjustments" due to disability, they don't have the expertise to assess medically and so will surely apply a reasonable time allocation.

For eg if I was doing Ebay as a business. If I walked to the Post Office (and I enjoy walking) can I claim 12 hours a week postage (1 hour there and back each day), or would they determine that 12 hours a week to post isn't reasonable.

I am certainly not saying OP should give up, or not appeal (far too unfair to expect repayment) - but I am not entirely convinced that the "it takes me longer and there are days I can't work due to disability" is the right path for a successful appeal, perhaps I am wrong

Showing it was in consideration of money - detailing past profits, showing rmeeting new wholesalers, reseaching new wholesalers, markt research, listing markets she walked round (even if didn't buy stock), preparing ccounts etc (there may be tasks she does that she doesn't even think of, I don't know as I don't do Ebay but there is likely to be things she has missed) to "add up to the 32 hours" *may* be more beneficial.

What Icequeen said in her very helpful post replying to this.

In short: for eligibility for tax credits, there is NO legal requirement about a reasonable time to do any task. HMRC's position is not that the OP took an unreasonable time to do tasks. And if it was, she would win an appeal on a point of law.

HMRC's position is that the OP has overdeclared the number of hours that she is working. OP's position is that she performs tasks in realistic expectation of payment for more than 30 hours per week.

Tasks OP has listed are explicitly in realistic expectation of payment in HMRC's own guidance. Therefore, if she can prove tasks take her 30+ hours per week she will win an appeal.

What a fast/average/healthy person's time taken to do these tasks is irrelevant.

camlo

Magic_Fairy wrote: »

Yes I sent 3 months accounts and receipts of purchases, invoices of sales etc and they claim I didn't work 32 hours based on the amount of activity they saw during those 3 months (I assume). I asked if I could provide any other evidence of the tasks I undertake for my buiness and they said no they were ending my claim. They are saying I haven't even worked the minimum 16 hours a week which is completely untrue and is based on their opinion and not facts. I sent a breakdown of all the work related activities I do and how long they take me and they are basically calling me a liar. How do they know how long it takes me to repair a vintage dress, or how long it takes me to take photographs and upload them etc? They are disputing the time it takes me to do what I do without giving me a chance to provide further evidence as offered by myself.

This was nothing to do with me renewing my claim this tax year as I haven't bothered to due to all this mess. This was because they did a random investigation and decided I don't qualify. I have no problem with being told they don't think I qualify if that is the case, but I do have a problem with them waiting 14 months after I renewed my claim to investigate and then demand 14 months worth of benefit back! They knew about my disability and the grounds for my claim, they knew my income was low and if there was any concern that I was on the wrong benefit I think they should have told me before I ran up a £6500 debt.

Hi - I am certainly no expert but are you saying you haven't renewed for 11-12? Perhaps they are asking for money back for this reason and it wasn't a random act at all? Im sure others will know for sure but renewing isn't just about getting an award to go forward. Hope you get it sorted.

Magic_Fairy

No this all started a month ago and has nothing to do with my renewal. This was a random investigation (allegedly). I will send in my renewal for 2012/13 but it seems pointless since they have ended my claim and are asking me for £6500! I think I have until July 31st.

Sixer

Magic_Fairy wrote: »

No this all started a month ago and has nothing to do with my renewal. This was a random investigation (allegedly). I will send in my renewal for 2012/13 but it seems pointless since they have ended my claim and are asking me for £6500! I think I have until July 31st.

HMRC run regular compliance checks via software. They then investigate cases that come up with a predetermined number of flags - these flags may vary depending on what is current HMRC priority. They often concentrate efforts on particular trades, for example - eg plumbers. Of late, it seems they are targeting potentially bogus businesses.

If someone is the sole earner in their household, report very low or no profits via self-employment, and have a 30+ hour WTC claim, it's common sense to see they will trigger a compliance investigation during a bogus business initiative.

As Icequeen notes, welfare rights offices are seeing a lot of these cases at the moment. Those who are overdeclaring their hours or are not working in realistic expectation of payment will have their claims disallowed. And rightly so. Anyone caught in this net who has been working in expectation of payment for 30+ hours, should seek advice, gather evidence, and appeal.

eskimo26

I know it doesn't help you now OP but i plan to record all my hours via a cheap webcam, saving it onto a large hard drive.

I'm not well enough to work yet every time i think i'm on a stable basis i have a relapse in my condition.

But i'm prepared to record my 16 hours a week when i set up as a free lance illustrator/artist. Would be nice to finally use my degree ironically i'm going for another next year.

gravitytolls

Magic_Fairy wrote: »

As I stated in previous posts I have not always made a loss from my ebay business, but yes I did always get a low income from it. Anyone on a low income can claim Working Tax Credits as long as they meet the qualifying criteria which when I claimed it I was told I did.

I have also been told that I can work out the average hours I work each week as I do different tasks on different weeks depending on my fluctuating symptoms. I have also seen this documented somewhere on their website although I can't remember where off the top of my head. I will look for it later.

I don't think doing a bit of washing and ironing on days that I am able to is unreasonable. I never said I was completely unable to work, I said tasks take me longer than they would take a healthy person and I have to do certain tasks on days when I can as on other days I am bed bound. I do my hand sewing when I am stuck in bed, along with uploading listings that I have prepared at other times.

In the last tax year I made a loss, yet I didn't know I would make a loss at the begining of the tax year did I?!!! I can assure you I wouldn't have bothered running an ebay shop if I thought there was no chance of me making any profit. I could in fact have done NOTHING and claimed a different benefit which it seems people posting on this thread would prefer!

I'm wondering if you can show them the previous years accounts showing a profit, they may be more willing to accept that you were working the same hours, but that the economic downturn impacted your sales significantly.

I think you need to show that you had reason to believe profit was viable to have made the business viable, rather than just a hobby.

Dunroamin

gravitytolls wrote: »

I'm wondering if you can show them the previous years accounts showing a profit, they may be more willing to accept that you were working the same hours, but that the economic downturn impacted your sales significantly.

I think you need to show that you had reason to believe profit was viable to have made the business viable, rather than just a hobby.

I think that this might depend on the amount of profit she actually made, something that the OP hasn't been prepared to share here. If it was a few thousand for the year you could be right, if only a couple of hundred, less so.

bestpud

eskimo26 wrote: »

I know it doesn't help you now OP but i plan to record all my hours via a cheap webcam, saving it onto a large hard drive.

I'm not well enough to work yet every time i think i'm on a stable basis i have a relapse in my condition.

But i'm prepared to record my 16 hours a week when i set up as a free lance illustrator/artist. Would be nice to finally use my degree ironically i'm going for another next year.

The OP may well have avoided this situation if they'd stuck with 16 hours. Claiming 32 hours for little income in previous years and no income the last year is probably what caused her claim to hit the radar.

bestpud

Dunroamin wrote: »

I think that this might depend on the amount of profit she actually made, something that the OP hasn't been prepared to share here. If it was a few thousand for the year you could be right, if only a couple of hundred, less so.

I think we can safely assume it was considerably less than the tax credits she claimed and it has never been a business capable of supporting her.

Herongull

There are lots of hobbies which consume many hours and generate an bit of income (which is taxable). For example people may enjoy painting pictures and try to sell them, and some may make a few thousand a year from selling their pictures. Ditto for people who write articles for magazines and self publish novels.

How do you decide when you have an income-generating hobby and when are you self-employed? Is it based on how many hours you spend or is how much income is generated?

It must be the latter, otherwise anyone who has a income-generating hobby who doesn't currently have a job, could claim WTC by spending sufficient time on their hobby.

If artists and writers are successful enough (ie they generate substantial income, then they would be considered self-employed, but not the people who would love to do their painting or writing as a career, but cannot generate enough income from it. The former might be able to claim WTC but not the latter.

If the ebay shop only generated very modest incomes in the past (eg a few thousand or less) and last year generated no income, then it will be difficult for you to claim that it is a business not a hobby.