Lone Parent going self employed

louise787

I am going self employed as a cleaner from next week, currently receiving JSA. How do I sign off - I am due to sign on next Friday but will have already started business do I wait until then or do I go into job centre on Monday and tell them? I need to claim WTC but assume I have to sign off first and also same with HB does anyone know what information HB will need I aim to be working approx 20hours (already have 2 clients lined up) will job centre need anything from me? Please any advice gratefully received

merlin68

You can carry on claiming JSA till your working 16hrs, you dont need to sign of till then just declare what you earn each week. As you cant claim wtc till you work 16 hrs.

louise787

Thanks for your reply - I will be working 16
hours

louise787

Please anybody on here can help me with this

shegirl

Just give them a call, it's simple.


If you apply for working tax credits they'll ask what benefits you've been receiving and ask if you want them to 'stop' them for you ( I guess they put a notifier across?). You can apply for WTC up to 7 days before you start working I believe, although if you've already started your business you can do it now anyway, just give them the date you started working.


You can phone the job centre too and they can do what they need to do their end.


OR you could get your advisor at the job centre to see you and get them to assist with the tax credits, but that could take longer, no idea!


Also, no idea how it works, but there is a system to help people on benefits with self employment which will give an advisor, help with plans and if you get a business plan approved they can give you a certain amount of money per week,for a set period of time, to help cover the period of starting up the business and getting it going properly. I think it's called the New Enterprise Scheme or similar,although I have no idea how it works or what the requirements are.


Importantly though, you need to register with HMRC as self employed. The time limits are different for this now and you have longer to do it BUT if you are claiming Working Tax Credits they will require your UTR asap to validate to them that you are actually self employed and working, so you need to register as self employed with HMRC asap. You can do this online, it doesn't take long and you will get your letter in up to 10 days and then be able to give Tax Credits your UTR to prove you are self employed and not trying it on! You can apply for your tax credits before you get the UTR but they will need it soon or they could question your claim.

shegirl

Oh, also make sure you work out an estimate of how much you will earn over the next year before you apply for Tax Credits as they'll need that info when you phone!

shegirl

blondebubbles wrote: »

Are you sure about this? Is this something new?

No idea if it's something new tbh. Obviously, with the way the systems work something would pop up as a notification anyway so maybe it's connected to that?

shegirl

blondebubbles wrote: »

HMRC don't tell DWP when to stop paying JSA.

That's why I asked if this was something new as they have never done this before.

When I went self employed and applied for WTC they asked about benefits I'd been on and asked if I wanted them to 'stop' IS. I was puzzled by it too and have no idea what they did, but I contacted and wrote to the DWP myself aswell anyway.


I guess they may have meant putting on a notification of some sort? Bit like if people stop claiming one benefit a notification goes out which stops another benefit or calls it into being reassessed?

shegirl

blondebubbles wrote: »

They update their own records to show you are no longer in receipt of IS/JSA/ESA but they don't tell DWP to end the claim.

Some other benefits eg housing benefit take info from the award notices issued.

Ah, that makes more sense!

benniebert

If you are claiming contributory JSA, is there a limit you can earn before the benefit is taken off you?


I realise that the 16 hours a week limit applies, but by being self employed you could easily work under those hours yet be earning £15+ an hour.
Obviously if there is a limit to what you can earn in under 16 hours it would be wisest to ensure that the net income (after all expenses) is kept low.

shegirl

benniebert wrote: »

If you are claiming contributory JSA, is there a limit you can earn before the benefit is taken off you?


I realise that the 16 hours a week limit applies, but by being self employed you could easily work under those hours yet be earning £15+ an hour.
Obviously if there is a limit to what you can earn in under 16 hours it would be wisest to ensure that the net income (after all expenses) is kept low.

I would sure hope there would be an income limit