Help universal credit self employment review

ashleynolan024

Hi everyone
Need some advice
I am a taxi driver and
I went to a self employment review yesterday to review claim for uc to see if im gainfully self employed
Whilst discussing with my work coach we double checked some of the months ive been reporting self employed income and found that i have been claiming expenses way in excess of what i should have accidentally as i didnt understand the reporting rules properly
Now they want me to attend a gateway appointment next week and at this interview they want me to re report all of my income and expenditure
However the cash book i used to record this info was left at my old property and i dont have a backup
I have checked with my private hire company and they only have the last 70 days worth of earnings

So what can i do at this appointment when they want to re report my earnings will i have to use estimates?

And

The expenses that i thought i could claim but couldnt could i be prosecuted for this or will it be a case of using estimates to determine income and expense?

Thanks in advance

tomtom256

This is something you need to have kept, as you will need it to prove your income and expendtiure.

You also need these records so that you can pay your tax. Without evidence, they can refuse the information you have declared.

poppy12345

ashleynolan024 said:

The expenses that i thought i could claim but couldnt could i be prosecuted for this or will it be a case of using estimates to determine income and expense?

You may have an overpayment of all the months which you were self employed if you can't prove both of those, which will need to be repaid back. I don't think you'll be prosecuted.

tacpot12

You also need to have kept it for HMRC. You are required to keep your tax records and all the data that supports them for 6 years. 

ashleynolan024

So I've had a look at a few of the months and because of not calculating it correctly I've gave the wrong income and expenses as for the months where I have no proof of earnings could the dwp ask for overpayment on the whole claim which is from march 2020 to now should I declare an overpayment now rather than later and would there be an any further action taken by the dwp or HMRC if I wait for them to discover this?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

How are you going to complete your Self Assessment return?

poppy12345

How can you be self employed and not keep your files? If you have no proof of earnings then yes DWP could tell you, you've been overpaid. You will just need to wait for a decision maker to decide. How will you complete your self assessment?

ashleynolan024

I will have to go based on estimates for this year so could the dwp decide I'm also not gainfully self employed as well and make me look for another job?

NedS

ashleynolan024 said:

Hi everyone
Need some advice
I am a taxi driver and
I went to a self employment review yesterday to review claim for uc to see if im gainfully self employed
Whilst discussing with my work coach we double checked some of the months ive been reporting self employed income and found that i have been claiming expenses way in excess of what i should have accidentally as i didnt understand the reporting rules properly
Now they want me to attend a gateway appointment next week and at this interview they want me to re report all of my income and expenditure
However the cash book i used to record this info was left at my old property and i dont have a backup
I have checked with my private hire company and they only have the last 70 days worth of earnings

So what can i do at this appointment when they want to re report my earnings will i have to use estimates?

And

The expenses that i thought i could claim but couldnt could i be prosecuted for this or will it be a case of using estimates to determine income and expense?

Thanks in advance

So presumably the income fugues were correctly reported, and it's just the claimed expenses which are wrong? If that's the case, you can look back at what you previously declared for income each month on your journal, and presumably that hasn't changed?

BUT you are required to keep all records by law, for 6 years I believe.  You must do this - it is not optional.

I would be very surprised if the outcome will be anything other than gainfully self employed. You are a taxi driver who is working - that's gainfully self employed. Are you actively applying for other jobs, attending interviews, looking to do something other than being a taxi driver? If not, then you are a gainfully self employed taxi driver.

I would expect your work coach will work back through the incorrect expenses, and ask you to redeclare your income and expenses correctly, which will lead to an overpayment of UC that you will be required to repay.

ashleynolan024

I've had a look and the income figures were mainly accurate on one or two of the months i think it might be wrong so for these months shall I try and get correct figures from the office I was working out of to correct them

As for the record keeping could dwp or HMRC punish me for this?

NedS

You must keep records if you are self employed:

https://www.gov.uk/self-employed-records

If you don't have records, you will not be able to submit your income and expenses each month for UC, so the 'punishment' will be that you are unable to claim Universal Credit.

If you don't have records, you will not be able to complete your self assessment tax return, and HMRC will fine you for late submission. The later you are, the greater the fines.

So it is in your interests to make sure you have accurate records.