Prolific Academic Survey Alerts

householder7

olliebean said:

I knew I'd seen something relevant to this: [..] 
So, some time before the next general election I suspect this will cease to be a problem for most Prolific participants.

"While HMRC's new rules will mean you won't have to report income until it reaches £3,000, you will still need to pay tax on anything earned over £1,000. Instead of filing a tax return, those with lower trading incomes from side hustles will have to either pay via a simple tax bill or possibly through their PAYE tax code, according to experts."

So yes purely a difference in the way things happen is the gist of the changes as I understand it, depends how much difference that makes to anyone.

Value

olliebean said:

I knew I'd seen something relevant to this: https://www.payrollplus.ltd.uk/news/business-news/archive/article/2025/March/side-hustle-trading-threshold-raised-to-3000-per-year

The reporting threshold for trading income for self assessment is being lifted from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament, according to the Treasury.

This includes people trading clothes online, dog-walking or gardening on the side, driving a taxi, or creating content online.

The Treasury says this will benefit around 300,000 taxpayers who will no longer need to file a self assessment tax return.

An estimated 90,000 of them will have no tax to pay and no reason to report their trading income to HMRC in the future at all. Others will be able to pay any tax they owe through a new simple online service.

So, some time before the next general election I suspect this will cease to be a problem for most Prolific participants.

Tax will still be payable for earnings between £1000 and £3000 so probably will still apply for many Prolific participants. You'll need to report earnings up to £3000 and pay it using the "new simple online service". You just wouldn't need to report it using the full self assessment process.

householder7

silvercar said:

Value said:

@elsien I didn't reach the threshold last year (stopped doing studies during the year to stay under!) but this year I might. Wondered if you get a breakdown that matches our tax year rather than calendar year? I know I can download all study payments but the payment date doesn't necessarily match the date the study was completed.

Arguably the date you withdraw is significant. In the same way that your pay day is used to calculate your tax year earnings rather than the date you worked.

In case this clarifies for anyone, it does say this on Prolific:

I didn’t cash anything out in the tax year, will you still report any information on me?

We will be reporting earnings based on the approved responses in each quarter of the calendar year. i.e. at the point the money is available in your Prolific account. That is because these funds are held under trust and belong to you from that point in time so even if you chose not to cash them out, you have earned that money within the year.

silvercar

householder7 said:

silvercar said:

Value said:

@elsien I didn't reach the threshold last year (stopped doing studies during the year to stay under!) but this year I might. Wondered if you get a breakdown that matches our tax year rather than calendar year? I know I can download all study payments but the payment date doesn't necessarily match the date the study was completed.

Arguably the date you withdraw is significant. In the same way that your pay day is used to calculate your tax year earnings rather than the date you worked.

In case this clarifies for anyone, it does say this on Prolific:

I didn’t cash anything out in the tax year, will you still report any information on me?

We will be reporting earnings based on the approved responses in each quarter of the calendar year. i.e. at the point the money is available in your Prolific account. That is because these funds are held under trust and belong to you from that point in time so even if you chose not to cash them out, you have earned that money within the year.

In the same way that any work you have done for a company under paye will have been earned, even if not paid out until the following pay period.

so you could imagine a conversation with hmrc:

hmrc: prolific have reported you earned £1,100 over the accounting period.
me: yes, £1000 in the tax year 2023-24 and £100 I took in the tax year 2024-25, both of which I have accounted for in my self assessment.

not withstanding that  prolific said they were reporting in quarters of calendar years, which doesn’t match exactly with financial years.

elsien

I did a new music AI one yesterday. 

Another one added to to the list of never again. Too long at 1 1/4 hours and not interested enough to want to do it again, 

SensibleSarah

elsien said:

I did a new music AI one yesterday. 

Another one added to to the list of never again. Too long at 1 1/4 hours and not interested enough to want to do it again, 

I didn't see any of these. What was the rate of pay? 

elsien

It was $25.  Didn’t enjoy it though. 

SensibleSarah

elsien said:

It was $25.  Didn’t enjoy it though. 

Ah thanks. Doesn't sound great.

onemouseplace

Has anyone else noticed an increase in surveys wanting access to their camera?  I usually automatically discount these as I don't like face to face interview based studies but I've had a few recently when I doubt that is what the camera is for as they aren't that long.

elsien

Some of them ask for camera access when they don’t actually want it. I think some of it may be down to researchers ticking the wrong boxes. 

I tend to go into them and then end the survey if it becomes clear they do want the camera. Which normally happens at the start anyway in the instructions.