Working Tax Credit application, Working hours not accepted

mkkid28

Me and my partner have been trying to apply for working tax and child tax.

The child tax credits have been sorted but now they have not accepted my working hours.

I'm a newly (since Sept) self employed Videographer (through the NEA programme) and I put 36 hours as it says on the HMRC website that you can include these as well;

If you're self-employed

Put down the number of hours you normally spend working in your business, either on work billed to the client or related activity, for example:

• trips to wholesalers and retailers
• visits to potential clients
• time spent on advertising
• cleaning the business premises
• cleaning a vehicle used as part of the business, for example a taxi
• book-keeping
• research work

If you work from home, include time spent travelling to see customers.
If you have only just become self-employed, use the number of hours you normally expect to work in a week.

Just got a letter back this morning (going to ring them when I get back in) saying they've not accepted the number of working hours. (This week I'm actually working 50 hours - actual work - because as I'm only newly self-employed I do spend quite a number of hours "marketing" which I consider sending/calling possible clients, looking online for work on the freelance websites, working on my website and Business social media pages.

I'm not sure how they can not accept my working hours, I know other videographers who claim working tax credit and some work less hours then I do.

If anyone as any advice, I'd be very gratefully.

Thanks,
Matt

Icequeen99

You have to show that the hours you do are in 'expectation of payment' which HMRC define as more than a hope of payment.

You need to keep a diary of your hours and what you are doing for each of them.

You then need to put in an appeal against the decision and send the diary as evidence that the hours you are doing are in expectation of payment.

IQ

mkkid28

But how do I show time spent Video Editing or Contacting clients/potential clients or even when I'm out filming.

And when you say a diary, do you mean an actual book of them or just on paper (on Word).

When I supported my evidence I wasn't sure how to show it, so I just listed how many hours a week I spent doing certain things; like this -

12hrs - on location shooting
12hrs - Editing
9hrs - Marketing, Book Keeping and Contacting Potential Clients
3hrs - Travel to meet clients/and to job locations.

What would be the correct way to show it?

Icequeen99

mkkid28 wrote: »

But how do I show time spent Video Editing or Contacting clients/potential clients or even when I'm out filming.

And when you say a diary, do you mean an actual book of them or just on paper (on Word).

When I supported my evidence I wasn't sure how to show it, so I just listed how many hours a week I spent doing certain things; like this -

12hrs - on location shooting
12hrs - Editing
9hrs - Marketing, Book Keeping and Contacting Potential Clients
3hrs - Travel to meet clients/and to job locations.

What would be the correct way to show it?

There is no right and wrong way to show it. But the more detail the better. On the appeals I have represented on this issue, I had the claimant keep a detailed diary with evidence - so for example for 'contacting potential clients' how did you do that? was it email? in which case you could include copies showing date and time (removing personal details), if it was phone a copy of your phone bill?

Travel to meet clients - a list of mileage (which you should be keeping anyway)

Editing and shooting on location - presumably you are actually being paid for doing this? If so, copies of invoices etc....

IQ

BigAunty

If you continue to have problems in this area, consider contacting your MP. They are there to serve you. I'm not saying that they can provide an instant fix for you but they could at least be informed that the HMRC have a process whereby they summarily dismiss business hours worked and force the claimant to try to prove the largely unproveable.

mkkid28

Oh right, so it would be better to break down how many hours were spent on each individual project, rather then just averaging everything together?

mkkid28

I already sent off my invoices and bank statements, but some jobs I do I don't invoice and some others I do invoice but they may involve work for a month or so but I don't invoice them til it's done.

Icequeen99

mkkid28 wrote: »

I already sent off my invoices and bank statements, but some jobs I do I don't invoice and some others I do invoice but they may involve work for a month or so but I don't invoice them til it's done.

Why are you doing jobs that you don't invoice? I don't quite understand or do you just mean you invoice for them after the work is done which may be a month or so?

IQ