Extra Income & Benefits.

lavvy

I am on ESA and have recently started to earn extra via a few websites. Top Cash Back, Paid Emails and other sites. Although I am obviously not making a fortune, I do make a fair bit, most weeks. Should I be disclosing this extra earnings or is it acceptable to DWP?

mikep22

I earn £30k as a full time job - and I imagine that if my earnings grow any higher (currently £100 a month) I would need to declare it. Therefore so will you. You get something like £4.4k before you start to pay tax on it in any case...not sure how it would impact on any other benefits.
BUT, if you are savvy and take giftcards over paypal, for example, I am not sure how they would ever know. The downside is giftcards take much longer to process.

lavvy

Thank you for for advice. All of my tax relief is used up in ESA and my Company pension so I am getting my full allowance. At the moment I get the money paid direct into my bank and that is what concerns me that at some point they will find out. I will consider the other option though.

Nebulous2

lavvy wrote: »

Thank you for for advice. All of my tax relief is used up in ESA and my Company pension so I am getting my full allowance. At the moment I get the money paid direct into my bank and that is what concerns me that at some point they will find out. I will consider the other option though.

You need to work out what is income and what isn't. Topcashback is not, for instance. It is effectively a discount on your purchase.

Income then needs to be declared. There is quite a bit on the mystery shopping thread about tax and allowances. It would be worth reading some of that. You need to register as self-employed then you will be asked to complete a self-assessment and pay any tax due.

HappyMJ

lavvy wrote: »

I am on ESA and have recently started to earn extra via a few websites. Top Cash Back, Paid Emails and other sites. Although I am obviously not making a fortune, I do make a fair bit, most weeks. Should I be disclosing this extra earnings or is it acceptable to DWP?

What is income and what is a discount? I claim everything as a discount so no need to be declared at all. Even with mystery shopping earnings you can claim plenty of expenses against the income and therefore not pay tax. I did fall foul of working tax credits as the hours spent on the task of making a few pennies (as discounts) does not count as hours worked for working tax credits even though you feel you're making money. So although I was doing 30 hours a week on mystery shopping and similar tasks they discounted it to nothing and I lost all of my WTC's. As I was then doing less than 16 hours I qualified for JSA or in your case ESA.

Flyonthewall

lavvy wrote: »

I am on ESA and have recently started to earn extra via a few websites. Top Cash Back, Paid Emails and other sites. Although I am obviously not making a fortune, I do make a fair bit, most weeks. Should I be disclosing this extra earnings or is it acceptable to DWP?

Topcashback does not need to be declared. It's cashback on things you buy, not a way of earning.

If you're doing mystery shopping that should be declared. You basically work for the company.

Survey sites, paid emails, PTC are all a bit of a grey area. You are not working for them companies. It is in no way a job. Many do not give cash (or you can opt for gift cards instead anyway). Most state gift or reward.

Based on that it would mean they're technically not things you need to declare. Some people do declare it, most don't (I imagine many wouldn't even think to do so).

If you're worried then just keep a record of what you've gained from where and any proof of cashouts from them sites. That way if ever anyone questioned it you've got proof of it all.