Self-employment and surveys

silly_moo

I hope you can help.

I used to be self-employed but packed that in a few years ago. I notified HMRC but every year they keep asking for a tax return so I just fill one in and declare no earnings from self-employment.

I have now joined a few surveys websites and am wondering whether I need to re-register as self-employed or simply declare income on the next tax return that I will have to fill in anyway.
Also, when you fill in the tax return do you show money earned or actually received during the tax year? And do you declare cash rewards only or vouchers as well?

Thanks

Flyonthewall

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.

ElefantEd

I include anything I make from surveys etc in my declaration of my earnings from self-employment. Even though practically speaking HMRC aren't going to chase you for the odd £10, I don't see how it can be viewed as anything other than income - you are spending time doing tasks for someone else and getting paid. Calling it a reward does not change this - the essence of self-employment is that you don't have an employer but choose who to work for, and they pay you an agreed amount.

Flyonthewall

ElefantEd wrote: »

I include anything I make from surveys etc in my declaration of my earnings from self-employment. Even though practically speaking HMRC aren't going to chase you for the odd £10, I don't see how it can be viewed as anything other than income - you are spending time doing tasks for someone else and getting paid. Calling it a reward does not change this - the essence of self-employment is that you don't have an employer but choose who to work for, and they pay you an agreed amount.

That there is the difference between reward and earning an income. "Choose who you work for". The reward sites all claim you do not work for them.

You are not an employee, you have no contract with them.

"Income Tax is a tax you pay on your income. You don’t have to pay tax on all types of income."

https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/overview

Even if you state it is income instead of choosing to say it's a reward, that doesn't instantly make it taxable.

surveyqueenuk

I declare the lot. However, I make around £300 per month from surveys and microjobs. I will be frank, I never used to bother when I first started this lark 11 years ago but then again, at that point it was just the odd AGC here and there.

I declare both cash and vouchers that I have earned. Anything acquired through a prize draw etc. is just that - a prize. I don't declare the value of any freebies from review sites either.

I only list monies received. Any funds which are pending at the time of submission get declared on next year's return.

It's a grey area and I am not sure what the definitive answer actually is. I just like to err on the side of caution because of the amount I earn.

asajj

I disagree that it is a grey area. You are supposed to declare anything you earn through online working unless it is specifically tax-free, like matched betting. However, if you receive vouchers, such as Amazon, as far as I know even HMRC gives conflicted advice on this. Some declare it , some not.

If you have no income at all, you are likely to be within tax free allowance anyway. HMRC may not be chasing people now but they might do so in the future easily.

Flyonthewall

asajj wrote: »

I disagree that it is a grey area. You are supposed to declare anything you earn through online working unless it is specifically tax-free, like matched betting. However, if you receive vouchers, such as Amazon, as far as I know even HMRC gives conflicted advice on this. Some declare it , some not.

If you have no income at all, you are likely to be within tax free allowance anyway. HMRC may not be chasing people now but they might do so in the future easily.

Working, yes, but reward sites clearly state you're not working for or with them and there is no contract with them. Hence, grey area.

Add to that, as you state yourself, conflicted advice is given by HMRC themselves.

The .gov website doesn't specifically mention reward sites under the list of taxable. Nothing specific or relating to reward sites is mentioned at all either way.

Sounds like a grey area to me!

ElefantEd

If you see a survey that says "payment £1 for completing it" then you are working for the survey firm. The contract may be somewhat one-sided (ie. you may not be able to complete the work or they may reject you or your input even when you have started) but you are most definitely exchanging your time for their cash.

I accept that if you are merely exchanging your time/effort for a chance at a reward (the sorts of sites where you get extra entries into a prize draw) then that could be different. If I were only doing those then I probably wouldn't bother declare them (though the point is somewhat moot as I wouldn't be earning enough to pay tax in any case).

The voucher case is an interesting one, though as they are redeemable for goods as if they were cash I suspect that if push came to shove then HMRC would simply state that they qualified as income. It would probably only be put to the test when the UK equivalent of Donald Trump was paid a large amount in Amazon (or other) vouchers to try to avoid being taxed on them!

Flyonthewall

ElefantEd wrote: »

If you see a survey that says "payment £1 for completing it" then you are working for the survey firm.

Not as far as the law is concerned. There's no written or verbal contract of work. In fact, there's the complete opposite with terms and conditions and user agreements when you sign up for sites which state you are not employed by them or working with/for them.

Them offering a possible payment reward for doing something doesn't void that.

Gaining financially from doing something doesn't mean you're working. That gain may or may not be taxable, but in no way can you state you are working for/with them.

I accept that if you are merely exchanging your time/effort for a chance at a reward (the sorts of sites where you get extra entries into a prize draw) then that could be different. If I were only doing those then I probably wouldn't bother declare them (though the point is somewhat moot as I wouldn't be earning enough to pay tax in any case).

None guarantee payment and if they don't pay there's really nothing you can do (aside from - in most cases - send a support ticket and hope).

When working with or for someone you have legal rights if not paid. That's not the case for reward sites.

surveyqueenuk

asajj wrote: »

I disagree that it is a grey area. You are supposed to declare anything you earn through online working unless it is specifically tax-free, like matched betting. However, if you receive vouchers, such as Amazon, as far as I know even HMRC gives conflicted advice on this. Some declare it , some not.

Which is why I feel it is a grey area....

ElefantEd

Of course there's a contract. When you click on the link that says "Answer these questions for £1", that's the contract. Theoretically if they don't pay you, you could sue them. The fact that your work might be rejected and you don't get paid - which could also happen with other freelance work deemed not of sufficient quality, or that they might not pay you even when you've done it properly is neither here nor there. Nor does something saying that this isn't employment in their terms and conditions have any particular weight legally (I am sure they are in effect just making you a zero hours contract freelancer, and just covering themselves to make sure you don't try and claim for holiday pay, sick pay, redundancy etc). Though of course the fact that there are terms and conditions suggest that there is a contract!

Or are you saying that if I pop next door and my neighbour says "I'll give you £20 if you put up these shelves for me" that that isn't taxable income, because there is even less of a contract between us than between me and a survey site? I might not get paid if I put them up badly, or if they haven't any money, and I might find the debt difficult to enforce. But if I do get paid, then I've earned the money in exchange for my time and effort. No different to doing a survey online, apart from needing a drill and some screws instead of a computer.