Advice on Housing Benefit while doing a bit of temp work while claiming Working Tax Credits

GeezaJoab

It's all a bit of a mess and I'm just looking for a bit of advice - firstly though to summarise my current status for clarity:

- I am self-employed and claim Working Tax Credits
- I run my own business f/t and have not yet earned a yearly profit from it (but this year I might make a small profit no more than £1,000 I'd reckon)
- the HMRC are going to write to me to move me over to Universal Credit soon
- I also worked f/t for 4 weeks just before Xmas and earned about £1,500 (paid weekly)
- the HMRC asked me to update my status within 30 days (about 30 days ago) and I looked at it but don't think I have to change anything as I don't consider this work a second job and may not do any more shifts there (I checked all the examples on the website)
- I am in Social Housing and claim full Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction (which the local council were harassing me about just before I started work and now I probably have to mess the claim up again)
- I am a UK resident from birth

Hope that covers everything

I was just looking for p/t to complement my business venture but they asked me to do f/t hours until Xmas and I fancied putting a bit of money in the bank - it was too much though and I am exhausted and burned out having also spent any spare time I had working on my business outside work as well as preparing food for work etc

I'm guessing I'll have a backlog of rent to pay which is fine and if they ask me why I didn't inform them until now then I will say I simply didn't have the time because I was flat out right up to Xmas and stressed up to the eyeballs which is the truth - I'm sure it'll be fine

I was thinking though ! that maybe since my Housing Benefit has been calculated through my self employed accounts on a year to year basis and was just recalculated that maybe from a legal standpoint I am not at liberty to declare this since I have not earned above the £2,500 thresh hold that obligates me to inform the HMRC ? wishful thinking probably but if it turns out from a legal stand point I can keep all of the extra cash then I'm definitely going to do that - I'm assuming that I'll just pay rent for the weeks I worked or got paid if I have to ? 

Can someone please keep me right here ?

It's such a mess especially when I'm in the process of changing benefits and I don't understand how it all works - it would probably be a lot easier if I was already on Universal Credit

GeezaJoab

p.s Hello to the group

marcia_

GeezaJoab said:

It's all a bit of a mess and I'm just looking for a bit of advice - firstly though to summarise my current status for clarity:

- I am self-employed and claim Working Tax Credits
- I run my own business f/t and have not yet earned a yearly profit from it (but this year I might make a small profit no more than £1,000 I'd reckon)
- the HMRC are going to write to me to move me over to Universal Credit soon
- I also worked f/t for 4 weeks just before Xmas and earned about £1,500 (paid weekly)
- the HMRC asked me to update my status within 30 days (about 30 days ago) and I looked at it but don't think I have to change anything as I don't consider this work a second job and may not do any more shifts there (I checked all the examples on the website)
- I am in Social Housing and claim full Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction (which the local council were harassing me about just before I started work and now I probably have to mess the claim up again)
- I am a UK resident from birth

Hope that covers everything

I was just looking for p/t to complement my business venture but they asked me to do f/t hours until Xmas and I fancied putting a bit of money in the bank - it was too much though and I am exhausted and burned out having also spent any spare time I had working on my business outside work as well as preparing food for work etc

I'm guessing I'll have a backlog of rent to pay which is fine and if they ask me why I didn't inform them until now then I will say I simply didn't have the time because I was flat out right up to Xmas and stressed up to the eyeballs which is the truth - I'm sure it'll be fine

I was thinking though ! that maybe since my Housing Benefit has been calculated through my self employed accounts on a year to year basis and was just recalculated that maybe from a legal standpoint I am not at liberty to declare this since I have not earned above the £2,500 thresh hold that obligates me to inform the HMRC ? wishful thinking probably but if it turns out from a legal stand point I can keep all of the extra cash then I'm definitely going to do that - I'm assuming that I'll just pay rent for the weeks I worked or got paid if I have to ? 

Can someone please keep me right here ?

It's such a mess especially when I'm in the process of changing benefits and I don't understand how it all works - it would probably be a lot easier if I was already on Universal Credit

 Declaring to HMRC, paying tax etc and housing benefit rules are not the same. You must declare all of your income to the council 

GeezaJoab

marcia_ said:

GeezaJoab said:

It's all a bit of a mess and I'm just looking for a bit of advice - firstly though to summarise my current status for clarity:

- I am self-employed and claim Working Tax Credits
- I run my own business f/t and have not yet earned a yearly profit from it (but this year I might make a small profit no more than £1,000 I'd reckon)
- the HMRC are going to write to me to move me over to Universal Credit soon
- I also worked f/t for 4 weeks just before Xmas and earned about £1,500 (paid weekly)
- the HMRC asked me to update my status within 30 days (about 30 days ago) and I looked at it but don't think I have to change anything as I don't consider this work a second job and may not do any more shifts there (I checked all the examples on the website)
- I am in Social Housing and claim full Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction (which the local council were harassing me about just before I started work and now I probably have to mess the claim up again)
- I am a UK resident from birth

Hope that covers everything

I was just looking for p/t to complement my business venture but they asked me to do f/t hours until Xmas and I fancied putting a bit of money in the bank - it was too much though and I am exhausted and burned out having also spent any spare time I had working on my business outside work as well as preparing food for work etc

I'm guessing I'll have a backlog of rent to pay which is fine and if they ask me why I didn't inform them until now then I will say I simply didn't have the time because I was flat out right up to Xmas and stressed up to the eyeballs which is the truth - I'm sure it'll be fine

I was thinking though ! that maybe since my Housing Benefit has been calculated through my self employed accounts on a year to year basis and was just recalculated that maybe from a legal standpoint I am not at liberty to declare this since I have not earned above the £2,500 thresh hold that obligates me to inform the HMRC ? wishful thinking probably but if it turns out from a legal stand point I can keep all of the extra cash then I'm definitely going to do that - I'm assuming that I'll just pay rent for the weeks I worked or got paid if I have to ? 

Can someone please keep me right here ?

It's such a mess especially when I'm in the process of changing benefits and I don't understand how it all works - it would probably be a lot easier if I was already on Universal Credit

 Declaring to HMRC, paying tax etc and housing benefit rules are not the same. You must declare all of your income to the council 

I'm already declaring on a yearly basis based on my earnings as self-employed so at the moment I'm not sure if I am obligated to declare earnings now on a weekly basis - if I work for 4 weeks employed then continue working self-employed for the rest of the year and don't make any money then the money I earned in those 4 weeks has to last me for the rest of the year

How do I declare my earnings to the council both ways simultaneously?

I don't understand how this all works and your reply didn't address my situation

Can anyone shed some light on my query with that in mind?

Jyana

Welcome to the site. Here is the advice from the Gov.uk page. You need to contact your council to tell them about the change as soon as possible.

"You need to report a change of circumstances for you and anyone else in your house.

Your claim might be stopped or reduced if you do not report a change of circumstances straight away.

Changes can include:

• starting or stopping work, education, training or an apprenticeship
• changes to the benefits you or anyone else in your house gets
• changes to your personal or workplace pension
• changes to your savings, investments or property
• your income going up or down
• moving house
• your rent going up or down
• going abroad for any length of time
• going into hospital, a care home or sheltered accommodation
• people moving into or out of your house (for example your partner, a child or lodger)
• having a baby
• your partner or someone you live with dying
• your child turning 18
• changes to your immigration status, if you’re not a British citizen

Contact your council if you’re not sure whether you need to report a change."

Source - https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit/report-a-change-of-circumstances

GeezaJoab

Thanks Jyana - I already looked there though
I am here to add further clarity to my specific situation which nobody appears to grasp
I'll just go ahead and speak to my housing association then and hope whatever the outcome is I'll not be giving away any money that technically I am or could be entitled to keep

HillStreetBlues

The issues are different, what needs reporting to one, might not need reporting to the other.
Just because you might not need to report it to the HMRC doesn't mean it's not reportable to the LA.
Another example would be capital, if it increased to over £6k then LA would need to me informed, but not HMRC

GeezaJoab

HillStreetBlues said:

The issues are different, what needs reporting to one, might not need reporting to the other.
Just because you might not need to report it to the HMRC doesn't mean it's not reportable to the LA.
Another example would be capital, if it increased to over £6k then LA would need to me informed, but not HMRC

Thanks for explaining what might be the case and shedding no further light on the answer to my question

marcia_

GeezaJoab said:

HillStreetBlues said:

The issues are different, what needs reporting to one, might not need reporting to the other.
Just because you might not need to report it to the HMRC doesn't mean it's not reportable to the LA.
Another example would be capital, if it increased to over £6k then LA would need to me informed, but not HMRC

Thanks for explaining what might be the case and shedding no further light on the answer to my question

 I can see the answer to your question, you are not reading the responses 

GeezaJoab

marcia_ said:

GeezaJoab said:

HillStreetBlues said:

The issues are different, what needs reporting to one, might not need reporting to the other.
Just because you might not need to report it to the HMRC doesn't mean it's not reportable to the LA.
Another example would be capital, if it increased to over £6k then LA would need to me informed, but not HMRC

Thanks for explaining what might be the case and shedding no further light on the answer to my question

 I can see the answer to your question, you are not reading the responses 

All everyone has done is parlay the same information I got from government and council websites - and all anyone has advised me to do is contact the council - I am no further forward in getting to the bottom of my specific situation in terms of what I'm looking at going forward

HillStreetBlues

You inform the council, they will  adjust the amount payable in the period that you were earning a wage.
This will trigger an overpayment and then you can arrange on how that is paid back with the agreement of the council.