Working tax credits and being self employed

maximus999

Hi everyone,
I was made redundant 4 weeks ago and i decided to start up my own handyman business. I am unsure if i can claim working tax credits as my hours change from week to week.

Can anyone give me a rough guide on what I may be entitled to or what I need to declare as the minimum to receive tax credits.?

I wanted to join the governments new enterprise allowance scheme to make sure the business didn't fail, to get onto the scheme I had to sign onto Job seekers allowance which was very painful experience and I signed myself off after 4 weeks to go on my own.

In last last employment I paid £500 tax and NI into the system like many people do and in return for the month I signed on I received £51!!.

The system has so many flaws!! and to go to any organisation for advise is like talking to a brick wall.

Many thanks
Ps I have looked through websites and I cant make head nor tail

mattcanary

Do you have a family and/or children?
If so, does your partner work?


How old are you? (I don't mean this as an insult; the Working Tax Credit is affected by it)

tea-tart-and-rice_3

my husband is self employed and we receive tax credits. We have one eligible child. Seems its all about estimates with them, and in your first year more so. As in our first year, hours spent getting work off the ground were huge, easily 100 a week to be fair, all the ground work you need to do in preparation etc. At this stage Tax credits will only want an estimate, they will want your final figures at the end of January next year. Your first year undoubtedly will be low, and you will probably receive maximum for your circumstances.

Yesterday I couldnt have written such positivity as our family have been one of those affected by their renewal glitch this year (i.e system not picking up renewal details) and they terminated our claim. Tax Credits told us to expect an up to two week wait for them to sort it but thankfully, today, just two days later than usual, our tax credits have gone in the bank, so today I have feelings of bon amie towards tax credits and to be fair until this we have not had any problems with them, and mostly found the person on the end of a phone to be helpful and pleasant. hth OP

tea-tart-and-rice_3

oh and what mattcanary says above too.

Dont get too worried about the different amounts week on week. This is bound to happen with s.e and with self assessment and any entitlements is based on your final end of year figures. If at that time tax credits have paid you too much then they will recoup that as an overpayment over a long period of time. If they have not paid you enough you will get that when they finalised renewals - that publicised date youve probably seen - 31 July of every year.

Just be prepared for some rubbish weeks and people who dont want to pay for your services - thats a hard one to accept but it happens!

Icequeen99

tea-tart-and-rice wrote: »

oh and what mattcanary says above too.

Dont get too worried about the different amounts week on week. This is bound to happen with s.e and with self assessment and any entitlements is based on your final end of year figures. If at that time tax credits have paid you too much then they will recoup that as an overpayment over a long period of time. If they have not paid you enough you will get that when they finalised renewals - that publicised date youve probably seen - 31 July of every year.

Just be prepared for some rubbish weeks and people who dont want to pay for your services - thats a hard one to accept but it happens!

Whilst it might be ok for tax, it certainly isn't for tax credits.

If the OP has four weeks or more where he dips below the hours requirement, nearly everything paid after that date (bar 4 weeks) will be an overpayment.

IQ

maximus999

Thanks for the reply guys.

I am 34 years old, No children and my partner work s upto 39 hours per week but her contract is for 26 hours which she has worked for the past year but she is getting overtime now.

Thanks

tea-tart-and-rice_3

I answered OP assuming that everyone does work the required number of hours or above. I am more naive than I thought!