Earning 55k a year on minimum wage

Liam222th

Sarahspangles said:

Liam222th said:

Sarahspangles said:

Well you’re certainly a hard worker, is there any reason you’re not in a better-paying job? There's some routes to ‘help’ with training and setting up a business.

Are you going to end up paying Higher Rate Tax? 

I've got a strong work ethic, but I've tried getting a skill or qualifications and failed every time, I did a plumbing course once and even that was too hard, I was a bit gutted really

Apprenticeship, and do what you do now as a side gig?

You seem like a nice woman, I appreciate your help, I've worked on 4/5 different building sites, people tried to teach me but ive never got anymore

For a side hustle, I'm into crypto, delivery driving , but that's not my job 

Sarahspangles

Liam222th said:

Sarahspangles said:

Liam222th said:

Sarahspangles said:

Well you’re certainly a hard worker, is there any reason you’re not in a better-paying job? There's some routes to ‘help’ with training and setting up a business.

Are you going to end up paying Higher Rate Tax? 

I've got a strong work ethic, but I've tried getting a skill or qualifications and failed every time, I did a plumbing course once and even that was too hard, I was a bit gutted really

Apprenticeship, and do what you do now as a side gig?

You seem like a nice woman, I appreciate your help, I've worked on 4/5 different building sites, people tried to teach me but ive never got anymore

For a side hustle, I'm into crypto, delivery driving , but that's not my job 

Maybe you just haven’t found the right manager or job.

Priority right now is that the current tax year ends on 5th April. If you’ve paid some higher rate tax the options to get that back are time limited, and maybe not attractive as a pension is top of the list. The Cutting Tax board can help, but you’ll need info from payslips or your HMRC tax account. 

Grumpy_chap

Liam222th said:

I'm surprised I've earned so much but I've managed it, just wondered if there's any help with tax or benefits etc, I'm doing about 100 hours a week but I've never had any help at all, is there anything I can look into or is it not worth the hassle?

1275l is my tax code 

You have said later in the thread that you are single.
You have not mentioned whether you have any children or dependants - I assume not as they have not been mentioned.

I am not an expert on benefits.  My expectation is that you would not be entitled to anything based on what you have shared.  Others more knowledgeable on benefits have confirmed the same.  You could try using an online benefits calculator if you remain unsure.

Anyway, 100 hours per week at £10.42 per hour = £1,042 per week so 52 weeks comes out at £54,184.  Your headline figures work just about.
That £55k or thereabouts will put you into higher rate tax band.  What pension provision do you have in place?  Rather than paying 40% tax on the top £5k, you could pay that into a pension and maximise the tax-efficiency.

Spoonie_Turtle

This comment is written without any judgement whatsoever, especially because I know there are lots of misconceptions about benefits and how much they realistically are.

Just as a sort of calibration of expectations, the current standard single allowance for UC is £368.74.  With a deduction rate for earnings of 55% that means the maximum a single person over 25 without children, caring responsibilities, or health issues limiting their ability to work can earn to still be entitled to all 1p of UC would be £670.41/month, which works out at £8,044.92 per year.

If you added rent on top that might be another, say, £4-600 per month (or less than that if you're under 35) but with the earnings deduction that still means that person's earnings threshold would be £16-£21,000 - and remember being near the earnings threshold would mean someone only gets a tiny amount of UC on top, it's not a case of earning that much AND getting the full UC amount.