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

afm_2

Hi!

I am in need of help regarding a the question

"Are you exempt from paying Class 4 NICs?".

I only earn about £150 with mystery shopping so, as far as I know, I don't have to pay Class 4 NI. On last year's SE, I said that I was exempt from paying Class 4 NI. I called HMRC last year to confirm the details of my SE but I am not sure if I went through this question.

Reading the help next to this questions, it says that:
You are exempt from paying Class 4 National Insurance contributions (NICs) if on 6 April 2012 you were:

>> at or over State Pension age at the beginning of the year of assessment (including if you reach State Pension age on 6 April)
>> under 16
>> during 2012-13 you were not resident in the UK for tax purposes (if you are not sure please contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or your tax adviser)

None of these apply to me I don't remember if last year this information was there. However, the definition of exempt is "free from an obligation", and I am free from the obligation of paying Class 4 NI.

So my question is, should I answer Yes or No to the above question? If it is a No, then should I do anything regarding the error on last years SE?

Thank you!

whitelabel

Any MSers in Northern Island or Wales (outside of cardiff)
interested in a 2 year project taking about 7 hours a month (paid obvs) in the first year for mainly home based research, with some visits in 2nd year
send me a pm and ill pass on details.
very good company
who are looking to start project asap

Cybi-Ping

Well its finally happened, I did a big reimbursement only job and the MSc has refused pay. I did make a mistake but it was so tiny that not paying is a really harsh punishment. They said the client won't accept the report, but in reality my mistake makes absolutly no difference to any part of the actual report or the questionnaire. Being self employed is all well and good but when something goes wrong you have no one to fight your corner.

Tolteca87

Bummer

Is it anything you can take back and get a refund on?

Stageshoot

Cybi-Ping wrote: »

Well its finally happened, I did a big reimbursement only job and the MSc has refused pay. I did make a mistake but it was so tiny that not paying is a really harsh punishment. They said the client won't accept the report, but in reality my mistake makes absolutly no difference to any part of the actual report or the questionnaire. Being self employed is all well and good but when something goes wrong you have no one to fight your corner.

If it is a large amount of money and the mistake was really that tiny it may well be worth persuing it through Small Claims Court,

Of course you will be burning your bridges with the company for future work, but if it is heard you can lay them claim on the basis that the company is using an unreasonable reason to deny payment, I would say very high % they would buckle before it got to a hearing stage and pay. or if it did get to hearing the company would have to prove that the mistake invalidated the work.

Totally depends on the costs involved and if you are prepared to put the effort in to chase it all through the system, Personally if it was me and I felt they were doing it deliberatly to avoid payment I would be sending them a letter before action then going the small claims route.

Big_Graeme

Cybi-Ping wrote: »

Well its finally happened, I did a big reimbursement only job and the MSc has refused pay. I did make a mistake but it was so tiny that not paying is a really harsh punishment. They said the client won't accept the report, but in reality my mistake makes absolutly no difference to any part of the actual report or the questionnaire. Being self employed is all well and good but when something goes wrong you have no one to fight your corner.

Who is the MSC?

Cybi-Ping

Tolteca87 wrote: »

Bummer

Is it anything you can take back and get a refund on?

Unfortunately not, it was a restaurant assignment.

Larac

Cybi-Ping wrote: »

Well its finally happened, I did a big reimbursement only job and the MSc has refused pay. I did make a mistake but it was so tiny that not paying is a really harsh punishment. They said the client won't accept the report, but in reality my mistake makes absolutly no difference to any part of the actual report or the questionnaire. Being self employed is all well and good but when something goes wrong you have no one to fight your corner.

Can't you take the product back that you have brought or is it one of those where it expressly says in the brief on 'fear of a sacking' etc you can't take it back. I often wonder how they know if you have taken something back - does it flag up on the system somewhere?. I only do returns if permitted.

Cybi-Ping

Stageshoot wrote: »

If it is a large amount of money and the mistake was really that tiny it may well be worth persuing it through Small Claims Court,

Of course you will be burning your bridges with the company for future work, but if it is heard you can lay them claim on the basis that the company is using an unreasonable reason to deny payment, I would say very high % they would buckle before it got to a hearing stage and pay. or if it did get to hearing the company would have to prove that the mistake invalidated the work.

Totally depends on the costs involved and if you are prepared to put the effort in to chase it all through the system, Personally if it was me and I felt they were doing it deliberatly to avoid payment I would be sending them a letter before action then going the small claims route.

I'm just reading up on making a claim now. I'm willing to burn bridges with this company, they definitely don't deserve my loyalty after this.

JohnnyG

Cybi-Ping wrote: »

I'm just reading up on making a claim now. I'm willing to burn bridges with this company, they definitely don't deserve my loyalty after this.

Good luck. I'm sure the client managed to use some, if not all, of your report.