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swagbucks and voucher payments

Rottingllama
Posts: 4 Newbie

Hi this is my very first forum post and I might be in the wrong place but it is related to boosting income. Does anyone know if you are supposed to declare money earned in vouchers to HMRC? I'm thinking about things like swagbucks and Bounts, I am also interested to know,are you supposed to declare any paypal earnings through apps like checkoutsmart and shopmium? I can't find any relevant information to help me, possibly because I am not sure how to use forums.Thank you.
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It's a grey area.
Some say yes because you've been given money.
However, all the sites will say that you are in no way employed by them. A lot will say what they give is a reward or gift. They are not paying you for a job.
Most people, I imagine, don't bother declaring it. It's a small amount, given as a reward and often not given as money.
HMRC aren't going to care about you getting, for example, a £10 voucher once every couple of months.
Money from cashback does not need to be declared.
It's different if you're running a site or blog and, for example, gain Adsense or advertisers pay you directly for showing their advert on your site. That is classed as earnings.
It's the same for mystery shopping sites, freelance sites, buying/creating and selling, selling products (e.g. Avon) or services and any site which is employing you or allows to you to earn, not just be given gifts/rewards. They should all be declared.
(note, selling your own personal items does not need to be declared.)
There have been topics on here before with mixed answers. Some people will have contacted HMRC and said they're being given £x, should it be declared and gained a yes, even on a small amount. If you were to say you use a reward site and they sometimes reward you with £10-20 or a voucher for that value you are probably likely to get a (possibly rather confused) no.
It would all depend on how you word it and what the other person understands of the situation. If they think you are earning then obviously the answer from them will be to declare it.0 -
That's great. Seems very confusing. I would think HMRC would want to let people know what to do. Many thanks.0
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Even companies like Avon get around it by saying that you are under no obligation to sell the items on. So technically, you buy all the items and that's how they get around it. A lot of mystery shopping companies do the same, saying you are liable to sort out tax. But some of the more responsible ones won't let you sign up without a number they use for calculating tax called a UTR (Unique Tax Reference).
The thing is that HMRC have a lot more to care about than someone making a few hundred or thousand £ a year (which isn't even over the personal tax limit, in- fact far from it these days!) And yes, vouchers are classed as a reward not even a payment, though there's even more of a grey area as to whether these are 'payments in kind'. Like some companies give their employees fuel vouchers and these have to be declared.Minimalist
Extra income since 01/11/12 £36,546.450 -
Rottingllama wrote: »That's great. Seems very confusing. I would think HMRC would want to let people know what to do. Many thanks.
For the most part HMRC are very clear about earning and declaring, but the Internet has grown and things have changed and it keeps growing and changing.
Some people still have their doubts about such sites being legit, but I think more people now believe you can gain that way than a few years back. However, it is a different way of gaining because it's not a job and it's still not something everyone understands.
There's no reason why they couldn't make a decision on it and make it clear, but they're not going to be interested in vouchers or items. Even if there's more people now using the sites most people will be making such small amounts of money that they're probably not bothered and don't see the point in spending time and money on it.
That may change at some point, but for now it does remain a bit of a grey area.0 -
Even companies like Avon get around it by saying that you are under no obligation to sell the items on. So technically, you buy all the items and that's how they get around it. A lot of mystery shopping companies do the same, saying you are liable to sort out tax. But some of the more responsible ones won't let you sign up without a number they use for calculating tax called a UTR (Unique Tax Reference).
They're not getting around anything, it's classed as self employed work so up to the individual to deal with the tax and legal stuff, not them.
Companies may have different ways of doing things and ask for different information, but Avon and others aren't doing anything irresponsible (because tax is mentioned and you don't legally have to register as self employed right away) or wrong by not involving themselves in the tax issues of others who are not employed by them.0 -
If you can wait a while there's a new tax break coming in:The new allowances mean that from April 2017 you won't have to declare the first £1,000 earned through each source.".
Chancellor George Osborne says the allowances provide a "tax break for the digital age", and promised there would be "no forms to fill in, no tax to pay".0
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