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

Quentin

You are allowed to earn over £100 a week before you have to pay any tax. (£5435 in the tax year)

And you ought to charge more overheads to your business (eg. internet costs, car parking, phone calls etc). You can probably show a loss rather than £1 a week profit!

Timmne

Groovegal wrote: »

Hi

I read the thread on page 1 and noticed that you said you were an accountant so wondered if you could advise me a little further as I am totally new to this have only done one job so far last week.

Dont know if its relevant so will give you a brief description of my circumstances. Hubby just got laid off a few weeks ago so we are on JSA for the time being and I am a stay at home Mum and currently pregnant. Dont really see mystery shopping as being a big money earner just something I always wanted to try. I get child benefit so I think my NI is covered.

From reading your post the one job I have done pans out like this I think

Income £20

Paid out related to job £15 on reimbursed purchase
Fee for job £5

Petrol at 40p a mile 10 mile round trip £4.00

Profit £1

Is this right? In which case the tax due would be 20p on this job approx so this is what I would be due to pay for this job at the end of the year? If I done a job in this town once a week for similar fee my tax at the end of the year would be less than £20 to pay as fees are always similar and so would my petrol costs be. Even then I doubt that I would get a job as often as once a week. Id quite like to keep doing it as it would give me something to focus on and the perks if they arent taxable eg free pizza or t shirt or whatever would make it worthwhile doing some jobs.

Sorry this is so lengthy but couldnt find a way to PM.

Also does anyone at all know how this situation would affect benefits as the income is miniscule but would it involve a lot of paperwork? As if its too much hassle may just give it a by until our circumstances are better eg hubby finds work.

Yep your calculation looks right although I'm not sure what you mean about the fee for job bit - it's essentially £20 - £15 - £4 = £1, but you get the same answer.

Your tax depends solely on how much else you earn in a year and as Quentin said, you won't pay tax unless you earn over £5435 in a year. I don't work with benefits though so I couldn't help you on any of that.

The important thing is to keep good records. Once the year is done (to 5th April) you will then submit your tax return. If you owe less than £2000 in tax, the revenue will collect any tax through your PAYE system if you're employed with anyone next year.

HTH

beccabee_2

Has anyone had payment from GAP yet for jobs done in the second half of March?

newmoneysaver_2

Gap pay a month in arrears around the 24th. Your payments for March jobs will be paid on the 24th April.

beccabee_2

oh ok, it says on the website:

"We process our shopper payments fortnightly - on the 15th and 30th of each month. Here's an example of how our payment works:

1. If you shop between the 1st-14th of a given month your payment will be processed by the 30th of that month.
2. If you shop between the 15th-31st of a given month your payment will be processed by the 15th of the following month. "

They're trying to confuse me! Should I expect payment for all jobs in March to be paid in April then?

A_little_stressed!!

How long do RE take to proof read!! Did a job Sat, and it's still pending and I have no score! Wish we had as much time to do reports!

newmoneysaver_2

I think that might me Australia only. I found this:

When do I get paid?

GAPbuster payments are processed on a monthly schedule. The approximate payment dates for all countries are as follows:
USA and Canada 20th UK 24th Australia & NZ 12th All other markets 20th Here’s an example of how the payment schedule works:

• If you shop between 1st and 31st of a given month, your payment will be processed around the 20th of the following month.

Note: Please allow up to three working days for the transaction to clear in your account. The length of this delay will vary depending on the conditions set by your financial institution.

newmoneysaver_2

A_little_stressed!! wrote: »

How long do RE take to proof read!! Did a job Sat, and it's still pending and I have no score! Wish we had as much time to do reports!

I've got 4 jobs still waiting - 1 from Sat, 1 Sun & 2 from Monday They do seems to be being a little slow. I hope this doesn't effect payments - I competed the jobs in the 1st half of the month so I should be paid at the end of this month.

newmoneysaver_2

beccabee wrote: »

oh ok, it says on the website:

"We process our shopper payments fortnightly - on the 15th and 30th of each month. Here's an example of how our payment works:

1. If you shop between the 1st-14th of a given month your payment will be processed by the 30th of that month.
2. If you shop between the 15th-31st of a given month your payment will be processed by the 15th of the following month. "

They're trying to confuse me! Should I expect payment for all jobs in March to be paid in April then?

On second thoughts - that sounds like RE???

Timmne

No that's from the FAQ bits of the GAP site; I remember seeing them (and thinking they were wrong!)