Declaring Cash in hand on Universal Credit

QePron

Hi, I searched for a post more relevant but they all involved people being paid well below the minimum wage or on additional benefits and those became the focus of discussion every time. 

I recently did cash in hand work for a company, working at a stall in a shopping centre. The company is very established within its market and pay the correct minimum wage etc and directly pay it into my bank account, from the company's bank account (ie it shows up as from Company Name Ltd). I did ~16 hours work at minimum wage but being a casual worker and cash in hand they just pay wage x hours rather than taking off anything like NI etc. I don't receive a payslip or anything. 

I have never earned even close to the minimum tax band threshold (4 years student, part time worker (at a high street retailer, so I have paid NI before) and then unemployed since January) and will not reach the band this year. I actually got a tax refund this April as another short-term part-time job automatically took PAYE from my earnings. How do I let Universal Credit know I'm about to be paid ~£150 (idk the exact amount but lets say that) because they ask for proof of self employment on the site and I don't know what that would be? Will the company I worked for be in trouble for employing me cash in hand? Or does the fact I don't earn near any tax thresholds mean I wouldn't pay towards most things anyway?

Also how do I even declare it? As I say they want evidence of self employment and I don't know what that even is or how to get it? 

Cheers.

huckster

It is not self employed but normal employment that you are describing,  so report a change from the date you started this cash in hand work, saying that you are working, employed, hours if regular, if not, I think you can enter zero hours and then the hourly pay rate.  Once you have reported this change, send a journal confirming that you are working cash in hand, so it may not be reported via HMRC, the dates you were paid and the net amounts you received.  UC will them use this information to re-calculate statements if they have not previously considered the earnings.  

The company you work should be using the HMRC RTI reporting system or submitting the information on paper if they cannot use RTI. But it is not unknown for many small employers to not report the earnings.  Reporting the earnings to UC will not affect the employers.  It is people, normally the employees, contacting HRMC to report that the employer is not reporting their earnings that would lead to the employers being contacted.

QePron

huckster said:

It is not self employed but normal employment that you are describing,  so report a change from the date you started this cash in hand work, saying that you are working, employed, hours if regular, if not, I think you can enter zero hours and then the hourly pay rate.  Once you have reported this change, send a journal confirming that you are working cash in hand, so it may not be reported via HMRC, the dates you were paid and the net amounts you received.  UC will them use this information to re-calculate statements if they have not previously considered the earnings.  

The company you work should be using the HMRC RTI reporting system or submitting the information on paper if they cannot use RTI. But it is not unknown for many small employers to not report the earnings.  Reporting the earnings to UC will not affect the employers.  It is people, normally the employees, contacting HRMC to report that the employer is not reporting their earnings that would lead to the employers being contacted.

Thank you for your reply, I followed the steps you gave and yes you were correct you put 0 hours for working 0 hour contracts and the hourly pay rate. I also declared the earnings in a journal entry.  Thanks for taking the time to reply, I do appreciate it.

If there is any problems I'll update this thread for people but I believe Huckster is correct.

NedS

If you tell them that you are being paid cash in hand every month on your journal, your case manager should set a task for you to "report your income from employer" each month at the end of your assessment period (AP, a universal credit month). The task should automatically appear in your ToDo list each month and you just type in how much you've been paid in that month and click submit. Makes it really easy for you to do online and automates the process. If you haven't worked in that month, just enter zero.

When you receive your UC payment, do check your statement which will show your earnings just to make sure they are correct (and report on your journal if they are not). There is always the chance that both you and your employer may have reported your earnings and they've taken them into account twice. If this happens, simply report it on your journal and they will sort it out for you.