Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys?

chocolatebutton

magentacafc wrote: »

Has everybody else now got their "account score" on the Retail Eyes homepage?

I wonder what this will be used for, and a good/poor score is?

My score is 80 - anyone else want to go public?

Genie75

Annie_Fanny wrote: »

A question for Becles perhaps?

The dreading topic - TAX! SScccccrrream!

I need to fill in my first self assessment online. Now if I do a job in March but receive the money in April (after the tax year ends) how do I record it? My job date or payment date?

Does this make sense?

Annie
Xx

Have a look in the Guide to Self-Assessment they sent you (if they still do it). When I started they said that you declare what you earned in the year you worked (even if you are not paid until the next tax year). I think this is to stop people holding back a big payment until the next year to avoid paying as much tax. But, as long as you are consistent each time you may be allowed to do it differently. Best to check with a qualified employee of the IR if you are in doubt. With the IR it is guilty until proven innocent!!

Genie75

And just be aware it can sometimes take a very long time to get to a payment threshold with surveys, and with mystery shopping pay can be very low and it is easy to actually pay out more than you earn. Neither is a quick way out of debt or to save money. HTH

Frugal_Fox

Hello,

I did a MS years and years ago - yes, just the one assignment and then didn't get anymore work through - was only one company, and so just forgot all about it - including telling the tax man :eek:

However, I work currently 12 hours a week - which DH wants me to stop as it does not bring in very much money and causes lots of disruption to our family - by the time I've paid for childcare and expenses etc I bring in around £40/month.

I'm not expecting to get rich with MS - however I would at least feel like I am contributing to the state of our finances... so I've registered with one company and have my first assignment with them on Monday, plus been accepted for another and am currently waiting to hear about another 3 companies.

I understand from this forum (thanks to all contributors!) I will need to register as self employed and having never done this before I want to start off right to save any hassle later on.

Will it be sufficient to have a cash book with details of date, assignment/company, costs (money I've spent) and the fee I receive? Should I then have a folder containing further details - ie which assignment for which company, mileage etc or am I over complicating things?

I understand that I can claim 40p per mile against my 'Profitable earnings' - do I do the same for paper and ink (I think the IR say its 6p - got from an earlier post!) Or is this taken off at the time....

EG

Assignment: Clothing Shop £5 fee + £5 reimbursement for compulsory purchase,

Date Details Costs Money In
12/4/07 Clothing Shop £3.50 £8.50 = £5 - £2.40 (6 miles at 40p) - £0.60 (6 pages of printouts) = £2 profitable income

Or do I just leave it as

Date Details Costs Money In
12/4/07 Clothing Shop £3.50 £8.50 = £5


Making a note of the pages I printed out and mileage and deducting them at the end of the year?



FF

Becles

Yes a cashbook is fine. You might find an accounting pad easier. You'll get one in most stationary shops. I start a new page each month, then at the end of April, I'll tear the page off, staple my reciepts for that month to it and file it. It's personal choice as to what works best.

I have a page with money coming in and money going out. The money coming in is a combination of fees and reimbursements. The money going out is purchases I've had to make to do jobs, and other assosiated expenses such as parking fees, stamps, stationary etc.

I balance that up at the end of the month and carry the balance forward until the next month. I do my final balance on April 5th and that is my profit.

On a seperate sheet, I keep a note of all the miles I have travelled. Again I do a page per month and keep it with the accounts, but it's whatever you find easiest. On April 5th, I multiply the miles by 0.40, and take that figure away from the profit to give the taxable profit.

I've got my own printer solely for MS work, so I claim paper and toner as an expense in on my accounts sheet. However, if you are claiming the 6p instead, keep a record in the same way as the mileage and take it off your profit at the end of the tax year.

I also keep a diary in the calendar on Outlook detailing where I've visited each day, and who for.

Hope that helps!

Frugal_Fox

Becles.

Thank you so much - you are a star :staradmin

You have just made it so much easier for me to understand.

Just one more question though! What do these accounting pads look like - and do you put that down as a cost?

Many many thanks,
FF

Becles

It's just an like a normal A4 pad, but with lots of lines and columns on! Sometimes they are called Analysis pads.

Each page should look something like this:



You can claim the cost of the pad as an expense. Also claim other bits and bobs you need to do the job, like pens and stuff too. They must be kept just for MS work though.

jobbingmusician

Lovely clear explanation from Becles

Good news folks - 'they' have reintroduced searching by client!!! :j :j :j :j :j :j


(Those who work for them will know who I mean! )

aniseedball

Just wondering if anyone could answer something for me (Becles you're probably the best person to answer this as your an expert on tax!!)

I use a laptop to do all my MS work on but could do with a newer model. Could I claim this as an expense?

Thanks:beer:

Becles

Laptops and PC's are complicated. I haven't claimed myself as mine are used for other things as well as MS work.

It's something to do with Capital Allowances, and you claim depreciation of the asset over a period of tax years.

I don't know much about it, but there is probably help on www.hmrc.gov.uk or someone else might know!