Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys?

Becles

DEBTFREEWANNABE wrote:

is it true that we have to pay tax on the wages we get from mysterry shopping

Yes! Any income you get including mystery shopping wages is taxable.

MikeLB

110% true. Mystery Shopping is technically Self Employment (unless the Shop company pays your tax for you) - So you are liable to declare and pay tax on all the profit you make from MS work through Self Assesment. Essentially, its a business, so you can deduct expenses etc to reduce the taxable income.

Make sure you keep good records of everything - Your spends, the jobs, mileage etc. Tax will be at 22% unless you hit the £40K barrier on all your combined incomes.

And I wouldnt advise not declaring it either. I suspect that the MS companies do tell the Inland Revenue who they are paying, as I did read of someone who recieved an £2.50 tax bill for the one job MS job they did in a year (after deciding they didnt like it!) and had never mentioned it to the IR because 'It was only the one'

Rachie_B

scorpiolady wrote:

Hi everyone, iv'e just registered on this great site, could someone help me with a question please? i recently did a mystery shop and i was allowed to spend upto £40. The trouble is theres no-one to give the item i bought to, so i was wondering do any of you return the items for a refund or arn't we allowed to do that
thanks in advance
Sandra

will you be reimbursed the full £40 ??

It will be specified in the brief if you are supposed to return the item for a refund

If in any doubt regarding an assignmnet drop them an email to be on the safe side

scorpiolady

It was Grassroots

debt23

Hi all,

Hi Chas - sorry, could you expand on this (if possible)


"2. There are tax implications if you return the purchase & get a refund. If you do this then the amount paid out will become taxable as it's classed as income rather than expenses. (Only a problem if you are honest enough to tell the tax office though & by telling the tax office I mean including it as income when submitting your tax return, I don't mean ringing up & telling them!)"

I know tax is a very, very complicated subject, but I cant see how the above applies.

To go with an example, I visit a shop, buy £10 worth of goods and get paid £4.00 for the visit. I return the goods and get my £10 back.

I've made £4.00 - which is taxable. I cant even see how the £10 issue would make it onto the assement form.

Or am I missing something here?

Thanks and all the best

Debt23

Becles

debt23 wrote:

To go with an example, I visit a shop, buy £10 worth of goods and get paid £4.00 for the visit. I return the goods and get my £10 back.

I've made £4.00 - which is taxable. I cant even see how the £10 issue would make it onto the assement form.

You go to the shop and pay for the goods with £10 from your own pocket.

The company then pays you a £4 fee and £10 reimbursement for the goods.

If you then take the goods back and get a refund too, you'll have made £14 from the job which is taxable.

debt23

Hi,

Oh, I see.

In the job I did, I got paid £4.00 from the company

The instructions said I had to spend £10 in the shop, but I would not be paid this back (i could buy something to keep or return it)

So I returned the item and got my £10 back, but I can see this is a different scenario than the above posted, and of course tax would apply in that case.

All the best

Debt23

Becles

Some jobs reimburse you for what you buy, but some don't.

The reimburse ones are handy if you need to buy that item anyway

System

scorpiolady wrote:

It was Grassroots

I work for them too. Maybe I'll get some good jobs with them if I stay there long enough lol :j

Laurie25

globbits wrote:

Hi guys,

We have a few pizza stores still to be allocated and these need to be completed either tonight, or tomorrow during store opening hours. Home delivery is preferred but 'phone in and collect' is now an option for anybody just outside the store delivery area.

Barnet EN5
Caterham CR3
Crawley RH11
Dagenham RM9
Newport Pagnell MK16
Potters Bar EN6
Sandhurst GU47
Sittingbourne ME10
Tonbridge TN10
Welwyn Garden City AL7

You will need access to a digital camera of at least 2 megapixels resolution.

Please contact louise@mysteryoutsource.co.uk if you are able to help.

Thanks guys n gals!

When you say we Globbits I presume you are also an Allocator for Mystery Outsource now.
Well Done:T