Tax on mystery shopping and online surveys

eldaniel

Now I am getting really confused. Seems to be like there are no standards to it. Lil_Me wrote that taxman did not agree reimbursment expenses should be claimed. Then in case of Happy MJ it was ok, apart of the ones which brought the profit close to 0. At least that is how I understood from your posts guys. I hope I am never going to have a visit from HMRC, because I am the person who stress a lot, but if it happens and it will turn out there is something wrong and they will try to give me penalty I guess I will just stop doing any jobs like mystery shopping/online surveys and keep relying on my full time job.

eldaniel

paddyrg wrote: »

No matter whether you've declared properly or improperly, an HMRC investigation is a massive pain and can be costly.

So if they decide that they going to investigate someone then they charge the person for it? I assume it would be only in case investigation will show that person declared something wrong. What do you mean costly? 100s? 1000s? Because really I am getting to the point that for the sake of extra few hundreds pounds (while I am getting my full time employment income) it might be not worth potentiall stress and hassle.
It would be nice if they have a treshold for tax free self employmenti income. I believe they have something like that in USA, that below $600 you don't have to declare extra income.

MysteryMe

Like I said earlier, ring up HMRC and ask for advice. You can give them examples of assignments you undertake and they will assist you. They are there to help, not trip you up or start threatening you with court action. There is no big drama about any of this.

paddyrg

eldaniel wrote: »

So if they decide that they going to investigate someone then they charge the person for it? I assume it would be only in case investigation will show that person declared something wrong. What do you mean costly? 100s? 1000s?

The costs are indirect - the time to prove you're innocent, etc. In that position you would also be liable for any back-tax due plus potentially some fines (nothing massive but £100+ ish). The point is if HMRC want to check you out, you have to provide justifications for your claims, for instance business bank accounts, receipts, invoice copies, etc. If you use an accountant or lawyer, it may also require some of their time, which is chargeable. The more organised and 'on the level' your books are, the more reassured they'll be and the less they'll feel the need to dig.

Most people will never draw attention or get into that kind of position, and for the sake of the income tax payable on the work percentage of a high value consumer product for a low-paying job it may not be worth giving them a reason to dig. That's all I'm saying.

Fact is they may just let it through, they may flag it, they may dig, they may not.

MysteryMe

We don't know the value of the tablet so no assumption should be made as to whether it is "high value" or not.

A tablet is a perfectly reasonable and legitimate item of business equipment to buy, especially considering the mobile nature of the OPs mystery shopping business. The business could not be conducted without an internet enabled device. You often need to take images whilst mystery shopping and can use a tablet as a camera. That's three perfectly reasonable justifications for buying a tablet without even having to put much thought to it.

The OP needs to ensure that any personal use is reflected in his/her accounts and be reasonable about the percentages. I would not claim it all as business use but contrary to the impression being given by some on here they are certainly entitled to claim some.

eldaniel

Thank you very much for all your help.

All completed and submitted. Printed all the paperwork, bank statements, spreadsheets with all the calculations necessary, so I believe I have done a good job. At the end I have decided to deduct small cost of using a room and fuel for mystery shopping journeys. I did not declare any expenses for PC parts/tablets etc. - not worth a hassle.
How long do I have to keep records from each year? 5 years from the end of tax year?
I just wish I would have well paid full time job, so I don't have to do that in the future...

Money-Saving-King

I do mystery shopping amongst other things. I used to use an accountant to submit my return. Back in those days my accountant said these things are fine but you have to bare in mine the lifespan. In other words a PC I bought had to be spread out over tax years it would be expected to be osed over. Eg say I spent £100 on goods & expected it to last 4 years I'd have to use it only as an expense of £25 per year each year (for 4 years) if that makes any sense.