Put Off Going Self Employed As A Writer

StormyWeather_2

dktreesea wrote: »

A word of warning though. At some point, universal credit will come into being, at which point the minimum income floor will apply for benefits calculation purposes. This is currently set at the equivalent to what you would earn if you worked earning the NMW for 35 hours a week. So you should consider whether or not you are going to be able to build up your writing business up to that level in time for when the MIF kicks in.

If the OP is making £50 a week, could that be treated as 8 hours NMW? Then if they made up the other 27 hours from PAYE work, they would be meeting the criteria for UC?

dktreesea

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

That's all very well, start your business by all means, but why should the State top it up? Do it alongside existing work, or get a part-time job to subsidise it until it can stand alone. That's what people used to do in the days before Tax Credits.

Potentially the OP, in which case they will have plenty of company from the other approximately 700,000 self employed people who are claiming WTC.

I thought this section of the board was to help people obtain their entitlements, not debate current government policy?

dktreesea

StormyWeather wrote: »

If the OP is making £50 a week, could that be treated as 8 hours NMW? Then if they made up the other 27 hours from PAYE work, they would be meeting the criteria for UC?

If they worked full time writing, and the DWP accept that the OP is gainfully employed (I don't see how they can do otherwise for the self employed, given they are legally required to declare themselves as self employed to the HMRC and declare their income) they would meet the criteria for UC, provided they didn't exceed the earnings threshold.

Benefits would then be calculated on actual net profits or deemed profits (i.e. the FT NMW), whichever was the higher. Well, that's the plan for the moment at least. I note the latest development in parliament, where the government is now saying it is considering a plan whereby profits and losses can be carried forward. Who knows where this will all end up by the time they actually roll out UC to self employed claimants.

Currently, say you declare your estimated income for your first year of operation as £2,000 - not unreasonable; plenty of businesses make a loss in their first year of operation - but actually make £7,000 profit, the final award notice would recalculate your WTC, and then you would have to pay back any overpayment.

notanewuser

socc's post reported. I've asked that he be banned too for this disgusting, offensive post.

Wicked_witch

Ditto. Unbelievable.

devonlad

cant someone get his ip address etc and give it to the police. he has posted in four other threads what a tool

iwblue

Quite easy, get a second job, which will pay the minimum wage to subsidise your business rather than ask the tax payer.

ILW

Is it not a condition of JSA that you are looking for and prepared to work? How can you do that if you are writing 30 hrs per week?

dktreesea

ILW wrote: »

Is it not a condition of JSA that you are looking for and prepared to work? How can you do that if you are writing 30 hrs per week?

If you are writing and earning money from that writing, or intending to, if at the beginning of your business venture, then you should be declaring yourself as self employed and claiming WTC rather than JSA.

Ultimately the point you make is behind the incoming minimum income floor. The presumption is that someone who is self employed can't, at the same time as they are working in their business, also be making a full time effort to look for work.

sarahg1969

I can't help but think you're being a little over-optimistic about selling enough books to make a living, or indeed any at all, OP.