Universal credit taxi driver seiss payment

selinakhan

Hi Iv just recently moved from tax credits to universal credit since April. I’m self employed taxi driver haven’t worked at all since lockdown. Got my first universal credit last month payment in may. Have received a seiss self employed grant this month our assessment date is the 7th get paid on 13th roughly. We have 2 children under age 10. And have a mortgage on property. Partner is going to sell taxi and get a new one. How will all this work for us.  Will universal credit affect us getting a new taxi what will it effect or what is counted as expenses need some help thanks

tomtom256

The SEISS will need to reported as income and it wil be treated as such and the award will be calculated as normal, with the 63% earnings taper, see gov.uk, being used on any income you declare.

There should  be updated information on gov.uk in repsect of a UCD5 or google it and see if one can be downloaded, as the original version is better then the abridged online version.

poppy12345

Expenses do need to be reported as well as the SEISS. Whether your expences can include a new car i have no idea. Do be aware also that depending on how mch SEISS you received then it may also affect next months UC payment.

selinakhan

Thanks for replying seiss was £1500 and universal we get is £1100 something like that 

calcotti

selinakhan said:

Thanks for replying seiss was £1500 and universal we get is £1100 something like that 

In that case you would still be entitled to some UC (about £500) even if you have no expenses to offset the SEISS.

Petriix

Sorry that you were tricked into switching to UC. That wasn't necessary if the reduction in hours was only temporary due to coronavirus. On tax credits, your partner could have bought a brand new Kia ENiro for £35k and deducted the entire cost from his profits across the whole tax year with the tax credits based on the net amount (plus the SEISS payments and any other income).

On UC, the SEISS counts as income in the month it is received and expenses are accounted for in a similar way. If the new taxi is bought on monthly finance then your partner can report some of that as business expenses. It may be worth paying for a big business expense (such as annual insurance renewal) in the same month as the SEISS is received.

selinakhan

Thanks for the information insurance renewal is in July on the 16th so next month and universal assessment is this coming week 5/6 I think it will be our second assessment since being on universal credit 

selinakhan

It’s a real headache will have account do it for us because we are really confused on all this universal credit 

tomtom256

See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide as it offers the curernt rules for want of a better word.

Petriix

If you can pay in advance for the renewal and get it into this assessment period then it should allow you to offset the cost against the SEISS grant and you won't lose so much of your UC. If the assessment period is ending this week then act fast (but please double check the exact dates for the accounting period). 

whizzywoo

selinakhan said:

Hi Iv just recently moved from tax credits to universal credit since April. I’m self employed taxi driver haven’t worked at all since lockdown. Got my first universal credit last month payment in may. Have received a seiss self employed grant this month our assessment date is the 7th get paid on 13th roughly. We have 2 children under age 10. And have a mortgage on property. Partner is going to sell taxi and get a new one. How will all this work for us.  Will universal credit affect us getting a new taxi what will it effect or what is counted as expenses need some help thanks

There is a lot of information here about what you can and cannot claim as business expenses for Universal Credit, starting at Chapter H4197   https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878191/admh4.pdf

In particular these are the rules about claiming for a vehicle:

"H4203 A deduction cannot be allowed for expenditure on the purchase, lease or acquisition of a car (including a mini cab and taxi but not a black cab or Hackney Carriage)1 . 1 UC Regs, reg 59(2) "
So unless it's a Black Cab or Hackney Carriage you cannot claim for the purchase or lease of a car to use for a taxi.

BUT the expenditure for maintaining and running the vehicles used as a taxi cab should come under this heading I would have thought:
"Expenses for both business and private use
H4206
 If expenditure is for both business and private use the claimant should apportion the cost, where applicable in reference to any apportionment agreed with HMRC or based on the claimant’s own judgement. Only the portion of the expenditure that is wholly attributable to the business can be deducted.
H4207
It is a common practice for a S/E person to put private expenses through a business account. If a set of accounts has been submitted as evidence of expenses the DM should establish the amount of the expenses paid out for the business. H4208 The DM should normally accept the evidence of
1. the claimant or
2. an accountant or
3. any apportionment already agreed by HMRC for tax and contribution 1 purposes . 1 R(FC) 1/91; R(IS) 13/91 "
So if you already have agreed what proportion of the running costs of the vehicles with HMRC for the purposes of your Self Assessment tax returns, then this apportionment can be applied to the same expenses for Universal Credit purposes.