Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys? (Part Three)

Hazzanet

Becles wrote: »

Even if you make a loss, you still have to show the transactions in your accounts for tax purposes.

Indeed, and the loss will reduce the earnings of your "business", meaning that you pay a little less tax

moi

Did someone not mention that the tax office will get suspicious if you regularly are making losses & it would be hard to justify your 'business'.

Hazzanet

moi wrote: »

Did someone not mention that the tax office will get suspicious if you regularly are making losses & it would be hard to justify your 'business'.

Absolutely - the key is that if you have to do a paper-loss job, you need to do another job that brings you back into profit. If you do all loss jobs, it's very hard to justify the existence of the business. Personally, I avoid loss-jobs, but for some I can see that the temptation of a "free" meal is too great. I think that the companies offering these jobs should realise that they're unviable when charging 40p/mile & 6p/sheet, but those who can afford to lose the £1 or £2 a meal will still do them and declare less to the HMRC.

domesticgoddess

Dazzieboo wrote: »

Is this the Stuck For Staff one in Manchester ??

If so, I went to the one in London and it was very interesting, there were a lot of agencies there doing all kinds of field work including promotional, taster sessions, leafleting, merchandising, auditing, sales promotions and sales work. Some of them do Mystery Shopping, but along side those I have mentioned above.

It was great meeting four of the team from IMS, they are my favourite company to work for and to meet the faces behind the voices was really nice.

Just a bit of advice if you do go, go to the www.stuckforstaff.com website and download their CV form, fill it in beforehand, preferably with a photo. You can get the CV forms there, which are free, but you are then charged 50p per copy, none of the agencies there will speak to you unless you hand over a copy of the CV, photos are not essential, but they do prefer the forms to have them.

There were plenty of freebies to be had as well, I came away with loads of pens and sticky pads, always very useful. :j

yes it is, thanks for that

Quentin

moi wrote: »

Did someone not mention that the tax office will get suspicious if you regularly are making losses & it would be hard to justify your 'business'.

Many businesses run at a loss - it doesn't raise any extra "suspicion".

If you calculate your overheads correctly, and you end up making a loss, then you shouldn't cook the books to show a profit!

TractorGirl327

When do TNS pay?

Did my first job for them, a supermarket shop, on 28th March, and another last Saturday. When can I expect to be paid by them?

Thanks

TG x

Hazzanet

I have an unwritten rule that if it doesn't make at least £0.75 towards the business, there isn't much point doing it.

Okay, here's a question for Timmee. I've closed the 07/08 period on MS OA Express, and have a small profit which I assume I declare on the Tax Return. It's moved from the P&L account to Retained Profit. If I want to take that profit for myself, i.e. out of the business, how do I account for it? Do I set up a drawings account?!

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Hazza.

newmoneysaver_2

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

When do TNS pay?

Did my first job for them, a supermarket shop, on 28th March, and another last Saturday. When can I expect to be paid by them?

Thanks

TG x

TNS usually pay towards the end of the month - 28th I think. They used to send you a nice payslip by post, but as were are now SE I'm not sure if we will get sent a list of jobs completed or anything :rolleyes:

wensie

newmoneysaver wrote: »

TNS usually pay towards the end of the month - 28th I think. They used to send you a nice payslip by post, but as were are now SE I'm not sure if we will get sent a list of jobs completed or anything :rolleyes:

Could I ask if a monthly pay statement will still be provided showing the breakdown of fees, expenses and mileage?

Answer: We can confirm that you will continue to receive a monthly statement of fees and expenses paid to you.


Q. Why have I not received payment?

A. You may have submitted your pay claim after the cut off date for the monthly pay run. This date is usually the 14th of each month, or the last working day prior to the 14th. The exception to this is December when the cut off is earlier, to ensure that that everyone gets paid before Christmas.

Timmne

Hazzanet wrote: »

I have an unwritten rule that if it doesn't make at least £0.75 towards the business, there isn't much point doing it.

Okay, here's a question for Timmee. I've closed the 07/08 period on MS OA Express, and have a small profit which I assume I declare on the Tax Return. It's moved from the P&L account to Retained Profit. If I want to take that profit for myself, i.e. out of the business, how do I account for it? Do I set up a drawings account?!

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Hazza.

Correct! Not sure these days how OA works but you need to set up the Drawings account as an equity account of some sort - does it have this option? It shouldn't appear on your P&L account, rather the Balance Sheet.