Help please on self employed question.

gunboat4

Hello. I am self employed and not worked since the middle of March. I have received a very small amount of universal credit. I want to know that if I have an 80% payout of wages shortly from HMRC, do I have to put this in the monthly universal box asking about wages for the last month?. I am confused as the lady on the help desk that I called several weeks ago told me universal credit and 80% of self employed wages scheme are 2 different things. Thank you for any help

Jeremy535897

You will have to treat the grant as self employment income in the assessment period in which you receive it.

calcotti

Yes you must disclose it to UC as self employed earnings for the month. In the usual way the difference between your business income and business expenditure will be taken into account and your UC adjusted accordingly. Depending on your UC entitlement and the size of the grant you may have no UC entitlement for the month in which the grant is received. If you get a large grant it may affect the following month also
The lady was correct to say they are two different things but that doesn't mean the grant doesn't affect UC. Your normal earnings are different to UC but are still taken into account.

gunboat4

Thanks for your help.

Hermann

Try to pay out as much legitimate business expenses in the same month as that will reduce the effect on your UC. 

You may find you can pay some bills a week or two early or arrange to pay them a week or two later so that they fall into the same assessment period as your grant.