Proof Of Income - Job Offer - Self Employed

Money_Saver_Man

I've just been offered a perm role.

They have provided me an offer in writing with salary and start date info.

But they've also asked me to provide proof of earnings in the form of tax declaration for the financial year.

It's a sales role and I exaggerated my self employed earnings during the interview process.

Could I just fill out a self assessment form and send it to them?

Anyone else been in a similar situation?

Marcon

Money_Saver_Man said:

But they've also asked me to provide proof of earnings in the form of tax declaration for the financial year.

It's a sales role and I exaggerated my self employed earnings during the interview process.

Sounds as if they suspected you were being less than honest.

Money_Saver_Man said:

Could I just fill out a self assessment form and send it to them?

You could, but they aren't going to accept something which could contain any old figures. Compounding the lie won't help.

Money_Saver_Man said:

Anyone else been in a similar situation?

Probably rather a lot of people, if the statistics on those who lie on their applications/at interview are to be believed. No surprise your potential employer wants to verify your claims.

DullGreyGuy

Money_Saver_Man said:

I've just been offered a perm role.

They have provided me an offer in writing with salary and start date info.

But they've also asked me to provide proof of earnings in the form of tax declaration for the financial year.

It's a sales role and I exaggerated my self employed earnings during the interview process.

Could I just fill out a self assessment form and send it to them?

Anyone else been in a similar situation?

No, they will want your SA302 which is what HMRC makes available after you submit your SA100 (aka self assessment form). 

What did you actually tell them your earnings were and in which year(s)?

Many people won't have done their 22/23 SA100 yet and so their latest SA302 will only cover 21/22. Depending on how far your lies went you could submit your latest and say revenue increased more recently or you could be honest and not court being sacked in the future when the truth comes to light. 

Alternatively you could inflate your earnings on the 22/23 tax return assuming you haven't done it yet and pay the higher taxes to match the earnings you claimed. Remember to make sure that the declared revenue doesn't mean you should have been VAT registered else you'll need to do that and pay the backdated VAT too. 

Money_Saver_Man

Appreciate the response. If I provide them with a SA302 form - can they contact HMRC using my UTR to verify it?

Marcon

DullGreyGuy said:

Alternatively you could inflate your earnings on the 22/23 tax return assuming you haven't done it yet and pay the higher taxes to match the earnings you claimed. Remember to make sure that the declared revenue doesn't mean you should have been VAT registered else you'll need to do that and pay the backdated VAT too. 

So you're suggesting lying on OP's tax return as well as lying at interview? If the false earnings are much higher than last year's, it could spark an investigation by HMRC.

Is it really worth it?

Grumpy_chap

Money_Saver_Man said:

I've just been offered a perm role.

They have provided me an offer in writing with salary and start date info.

But they've also asked me to provide proof of earnings in the form of tax declaration for the financial year.

It's a sales role and I exaggerated my self employed earnings during the interview process.

Could I just fill out a self assessment form and send it to them?

Anyone else been in a similar situation?

What exactly are they asking and what exactly did you say at the interview?

To a large extent, the earnings in your current job are irrelevant to the new job - the new employer has assessed your competency for the role and made an offer based upon that assessment.
The irrelevance of current earnings is even more so when moving from a sole-trader position to employed position.  The basis of earnings is totally different between the two. An individual operating as sole-trader may have taken decisions to maximise expenses, so reducing earnings and taxation - maybe making higher than typical pension contributions.  

It does sound like they are asking for your SA302 statement, but the gross income on there is an irrelevant figure as it includes your sole-trader revenue less allowable expenses, but may also include income from other sources outside of the sole trader business.

Was the figure you gave as sole-trader earnings a wholly fabricated figure, or was it a figure based in fact?  

penners324

The new company have no right to see any 'proof' of income. 

Certainly not your tax returns

Marcon

penners324 said:

The new company have no right to see any 'proof' of income. 

Certainly not your tax returns

...but they do of course have the right to withdraw any job offer if they don't get satisfactory proof.

MeteredOut

I see this less a “prove your income” than a “prove the sales you said you’d made” (since this is a sales role). It’s not too far removed from being asked for proof of a qualification, or proof of some other experience that was claimed at an interview. In this case, the experience is a quantity of sales.

OP, in percentage terms, how much did you lie about your self employed sales?