Mystery Shopping Thread 25 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

wanderingminstrel

i have a query please, i have done MS for a few years now, the fees are really low as you will probably know, however this year with all my jobs the total fees and expenses comes to £1024, i have not deducted any mileage from this at all nor any other costs, this is what i received from the companies, my question is and i shall be honest i did not realise do i need to put in a tax form for this, or will i be fined for not saying anything till now, any help is appreciated as rather be upfront with all of this, i dont have a lot of the receipts by the way for these jobs!!!

chinora

wanderingminstrel wrote: »

i have a query please, i have done MS for a few years now, the fees are really low as you will probably know, however this year with all my jobs the total fees and expenses comes to £1024, i have not deducted any mileage from this at all nor any other costs, this is what i received from the companies, my question is and i shall be honest i did not realise do i need to put in a tax form for this, or will i be fined for not saying anything till now, any help is appreciated as rather be upfront with all of this, i dont have a lot of the receipts by the way for these jobs!!!

You need to declare it as even after you have made your deductions if you choose to do so so have earned more money than HMRC think you have and if they find out you will be fined. There is a link at the start of the forum I think to HMRC with the deductions you can make.

wanderingminstrel

i have a normal 9-5 job i should mention so this is just a hobby, i take it i need to do a self employed form then...
am i likely to be fined for registering self employed for first time now?

Larac

wanderingminstrel wrote: »

i have a normal 9-5 job i should mention so this is just a hobby, i take it i need to do a self employed form then...
am i likely to be fined for registering self employed for first time now?

You will need to register for self assessment. If you do it on line hmrc issue you a gateway id in the post and then you apply for a password which is sent out in the post if no valid email address for you is registered. Once you can access your online account you can add self employment to your profile. Also need to apply for small earnings certificate of exemption certificate for national insurance contributions
If you follow the online process, it does go through it stage by stage.

MysteryMe

Yes, you have self employed income. You should register within 3 months of becoming self employed but best thing is to contact HMRC and explain the situation and they will advise you how to proceed.

BabyF

Recently done my first jobs for Helion and see that they pay in Euros. I'm sure I've seen discussions on here before about the best (cheapest) way to 'receive' payments in Euros but I can't find them now. Any advice? Is PayPal best? Do the banks charge a fee? Cheers for any help.

Big_Graeme

BabyF wrote: »

Recently done my first jobs for Helion and see that they pay in Euros. I'm sure I've seen discussions on here before about the best (cheapest) way to 'receive' payments in Euros but I can't find them now. Any advice? Is PayPal best? Do the banks charge a fee? Cheers for any help.

I find Paypal more convenient, the fees they and my bank charge are fairly similar so I go with what works best for me. Remember that Paypal money can be withdrawn into an attached account in a couple of hours now, no 5 day wait.

Fees are an allowable expense for tax purposes.

wanderingminstrel

chinora wrote: »

You need to declare it as even after you have made your deductions if you choose to do so so have earned more money than HMRC think you have and if they find out you will be fined. There is a link at the start of the forum I think to HMRC with the deductions you can make.

my only issue is that i have done this MS for a couple of year so i guess i will be fined for late registration of me being self employed, is it best to ring them first maybe to discuss and be honest about my situation.
cheers

skintsocks

I don't mean to sound off, but if you joined here in 2011, and have been mystery shopping for a while, it can't really be a surprise that you need to declare your income now. If you don't, you're going to be in deep trouble when HMRC find out. So just ring, and be honest. With all the publicity these days, the "I really didn't know" protestations become more worthless by the month.

JohnnyG

React payment in the bank this morning and MF pending for tomorrow

Though nothing showing for DS yet