Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys?

System

Can you PM me too pls, I'm just plain nosy!!

Chas

yes me too! Thanks in advance Saveit.

Saveit

Done:beer:

Diminutive

I sent a PM too just in case it was a different store to Saveit =p

Gemmzie

Mother did her first mystery shop today She enjoyed it, ready to sign up with another company for more shops!

SarahNeedle1872

Hi everyone...sorry if this is a daft question, I have just picked up the thread and 139 pages is a lot to read!
I am on Mat leave for 6 months, and toying with the idea of MS work. Do I still need to register as self-employed? I'll be getting SMP in 8 weeks time plus claiming child benefit etc. I am useless with the whole area of tax!
Any suggestions gratefully recieved...

mountainofdebt

do mystery shopping compnies supply you with some info re the jobs you've done in the last Tax Year so that you can fill in the Tax Return?

jobbingmusician

mountainofdebt wrote:

do mystery shopping compnies supply you with some info re the jobs you've done in the last Tax Year so that you can fill in the Tax Return?

It depends on the company! TNS and RE do, on their website (although I would be careful to keep a copy of this, as you can't necessarily go back far enough to complete the previous year's records. But at least you can check what they think you've done - and they do sometimes make mistakes and forget to pay you for jobs!!) BAI are completely hopeless, and just transfer money to your bank account without any indication of what it is for - on my bank statements it just says 'CHAPS TRANSFER' :eek: Gapbuster make payments to your account which at least indicate who they are from, but it can be fun trying to reconcile them with the work you've done. :rolleyes:

You really need to keep your own records of all the work you do, where it is, how much the travel etc has cost you, what you have spent and what you've earned.

Jo4

Can someone please answer this question, how much can you earn doing mystery shopping when in receipt of benefits? I have not reached my taxable limit although my incapacity benefit is taxable. What affect would this have on my benefits?

jobbingmusician

When I was on benefits (early 2005) they let me earn a fiver a week. However, they were very clear that they were not at all interested in the fact that I got free meals from the MS. My view (NOT checked with them) is that what counts is TAXABLE INCOME, so if you declare to them what you earn after your deductions for travel etc., you can actually do a fair amount of MS without it affecting bens, especially in this day and age when MS is so badly paid and there are loads of jobs around where you don't actually get PAID anything, you just get your expenses.....:o