cleaning for a neighbour

taxi36

Hi , my Daughter is an 18 year old Mum.

She works part time 16 hours per week. There is an elderly couple who live near us who are looking for someone to come into their home just once a week to give it a quick clean and maybe a little bit of ironing.

As there is only the 2 of them living at home and they are both disabled receiving DLA they dont have a massive amount needing done so 2 or 3 hours per week.

The elederly couple wouldnt want to go to the hassle of becoming employers as such and so they want someone to do it self employed.

Now my Daughter is interested in helping them out. She would be able to fit 2 or 3 hours in aroound her Baby.

My Daughter is very willing to do this but has stated that she would only do it if the money were all legally declared as extra income (which is as it should be!)

My questions are would she have to register as self employed to do this or is there any other way to declare the extra money?

Im assuming that it would be just a matter of informing tax credits that she is now working 18/19 hours per week instead of 16?

This is not a way for my Daughter to "fiddle" tax credits or anything as she already works the required 16 hours. It is just my Daughter trying to help out a neighbour whilst declaring the extra income correctly.

arcon5

People may not like this, but...

if she's just doing a few odd jobs taking just a couple of hours a week then tell her to just take a tenner or a box of nappies or something and leave it there.

There's no point making what amounts to a mutual favour overly-complicated. If she was working a less derisory number of hours or working a more significant sum of money or doing it for several people then it would be a different story.

themull1

She needs to register as self employed.

Own_My_Own

Ring the tax office and declare it. It is not complicated, the questions are quite basic. She needs to jot down what she earns each week for a record.
She will be sent a tax return later in the year. It will be really straightforward to complete, as she will have no outgoings. You can do it on-line, but she must register to do this, but that again is straightforward. It does take about a week, as they post you a code to use. So don't leave this till the last minute.
Also ring Tax Credits, it will not affect her benefit but you need to tell them.

princessdon

yes she needs to be SE and also needs liability insurance. You can help her with this if you need and can be deducted.

She can then claim expenses and for hours associated with the work (eg if she needs to buy the cleaning items, her travel, time to buy them etc as an expense). Time to do the accounts. So for the 3 hours work she can claim she works more hours etc.

If she wishes to put LO in nursery/childminder - she can claim for this time too (even if it means a full day if that is their hours).

She *may* even get few more hours in the future - taking her over the 30 for extra Tax Credits etc

Investigate it fully before making any decision

Own_My_Own

themull1 wrote: »

She needs to register as self employed.

princessdon wrote: »

yes she needs to be SE and also needs liability insurance. You can help her with this if you need and can be deducted.

She can then claim expenses and for hours associated with the work (eg if she needs to buy the cleaning items, her travel, time to buy them etc as an expense). Time to do the accounts. So for the 3 hours work she can claim she works more hours etc.

If she wishes to put LO in nursery/childminder - she can claim for this time too (even if it means a full day if that is their hours).

She *may* even get few more hours in the future - taking her over the 30 for extra Tax Credits etc

Investigate it fully before making any decision

Yes she will need ins, but rest is irrelevant as her income will be below the tax threshold, meaning no tax will have to be paid.
You can not claim expense from nothing .

arcon5

How many people here have done a favour for a mate and took a few quid or a pint in return? I wonder how many have declared this.

Sorry if this sounds controversial... op if I was you i'd pocket it in this instance. We're talking about a derisory sum of money for doing a neighbour a huge favour.

pickpocketlocket

arcon5 wrote: »

How many people here have done a favour for a mate and took a few quid or a pint in return? I wonder how many have declared this.

Sorry if this sounds controversial... op if I was you i'd pocket it in this instance. We're talking about a derisory sum of money for doing a neighbour a huge favour.

This is not a favour though, it is a regular arrangement for which she is receiving payment, not a pint in return.

taxi36

Thanks for all the comments.

to be perfectly honest , there is no way my Daughter would just take the money without declaring it. I suppose its for the best anyway as there is always someone willing to snitch to the benefits people.

Registering as self employed and filling out self assessment yearly wouldnt cause any hassle as I am self employed myself and my Wife completes my tax return for me each year so doing/helping our Daughter complete hers wouldnt cause any inconvenience.

Princessdon - your post was really very helpful - thank-you - however , my Daughter wouldnt need to put the Baby into childcare as we all rally round and mind him whilst she works her ordinary job and so looking after him for an extra 2 or 3 hours per week would be an absolute pleasure . She also wouldnt have any expenses as the couple she would be cleaning for would be providing all the cleaning gear and they litterally live a few doors away so there wouldnt be any travel expenses.

The only points of concern now are these :

1) Would she REALLY need to have liabilty insurance? Is it compulsary or just something people take out to cover their backs ?

2) Would HMRC think something fishy was going on if she declares (quite correctly) that she is only self employed for 2 hours per week? There is absolutely NO possibility of the hours increasing as the couple are 2 pensioners living alone so only need 2/3 hours and my Daughter is doing this more to help them out rather than to make money from it and so she will NEVER take on more hours or more "customers".

Owain_Moneysaver

taxi36 wrote: »

1) Would she REALLY need to have liabilty insurance? Is it compulsary or just something people take out to cover their backs ?

Suppose nice elderly couple say that daughter knocked over a Ming vase or a bottle of bleach on the carpet?

LittleVoice

taxi36 wrote: »

The elederly couple wouldnt want to go to the hassle of becoming employers as such and so they want someone to do it self employed.

I can't imagine that they would be paying enough to need think about deducting tax or paying NI.

Is the simplest thing for them to be the employer and for your daughter to simply notify HMRC of the income on an annual basis - as well as dealing with whatever needs to be done re tax credits?