Can I claim working tax as a self employed student?

Oliviajennings

Hi
I am in the process of registering as self employed with HRMC. I am a single mother to a 2 year old and I'm also a full time university student in receipt of the student loan/grant. As I understand it, a large majority of student finance is disregarded for income calculation purposes.

I have been in the early stages of creating a business since October now and have just got investment from a family member which has enabled me to get things going properly and get my designs created. It is an online website that sells premature babies clothing and we also sell on other platforms such as etsy and eBay. In addition to this I also sell over non related and sometimes second hand items (that I have purchased with the intention or re selling).

I can't imagine I will make much initially, especially as the agreement is to half profits with the family member that has given me the investment. I would imagine I would be making more than £100-£200 a month to begin with.

Obviously I'm going to be putting a considerable amount of time in to this and aim to put around 5 hours a day in to it on the weekends and a few hours throughout the week nights.

Would I be entitled to claim working tax credits whilst I start this or will I not be eligible?

Darksparkle

You need to work at least 16hrs to claim WTC as a single parent.

You should read up on WTC and the self employed.

http://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/self-employed/

tomtontom

Ebay sellers understandably tend to attract compliance investigations, especially with such low earnings. How long do you envisage it will take to make a profit equivalent to minimum wage?