New to Benefits
Options
Samh
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hello all.
I was wondering if someone here could shed some light on how Universal Credits work with someone who is employed on low-income as well as being self-employed.
This year myself and my partner started our family and my partners maternity payments are due to end in December.
Come the new year she will be staying at home to look after our baby.
Currently I work a 15 hour contract per week, but usually clock around 20 hours (sometimes more) This amounts to around £750 per month.
I also file a tax return as a self-employed individual as I earn anywhere between £100 and £200 a month from a hobby that generates revenue.
We currently privately rent and don't receive any help.
Although we will probably be fine financially come January, we are looking into Universal Credit just as a precaution.
My main questions are:
How is Universal Credit affected by additional self-employed earnings that fluctuate?
Will I have to pay tax on any Universal Credit given I file a Tax Return?
Are there monthly meetings or criteria we must commit to?
Finally, are there any negative impacts from receiving Universal Credit?
Any help or insight would be great.
I've been doing a lot of reading and used a few calculators, but unfortunately seem to get a lot of conflicting information.
Thanks in advance for your help. :beer:
I was wondering if someone here could shed some light on how Universal Credits work with someone who is employed on low-income as well as being self-employed.
This year myself and my partner started our family and my partners maternity payments are due to end in December.
Come the new year she will be staying at home to look after our baby.
Currently I work a 15 hour contract per week, but usually clock around 20 hours (sometimes more) This amounts to around £750 per month.
I also file a tax return as a self-employed individual as I earn anywhere between £100 and £200 a month from a hobby that generates revenue.
We currently privately rent and don't receive any help.
Although we will probably be fine financially come January, we are looking into Universal Credit just as a precaution.
My main questions are:
How is Universal Credit affected by additional self-employed earnings that fluctuate?
Will I have to pay tax on any Universal Credit given I file a Tax Return?
Are there monthly meetings or criteria we must commit to?
Finally, are there any negative impacts from receiving Universal Credit?
Any help or insight would be great.
I've been doing a lot of reading and used a few calculators, but unfortunately seem to get a lot of conflicting information.
Thanks in advance for your help. :beer:
0
Comments
-
If you have been employed for longer than 12 months you will be expected to be making 35x nmw per week. How are you anticipating that you will be fine in January if your partner is not going back to work ?0
-
-
Because you are earning less than 35 x NMW from your employment you would be expected to look for additional work to increase your income. If you are consistently getting some income from your self employment your work coach may reduce the hours of job search you are required to do - but they have discretion over this. You will have to complete a Claimant Commitment in order to receive UC, the expectation regarding looking for additional work will be set out in the Commitment and you will nee to evidence what activity you are undertaking. Your partner will also have a Claimant Commitment but as the carer of a long child will not be expected to look for work.
Provided the 'self employment' is not your main employment (so you are not treated as gainfully self employed) the Minimum Income Floor should not apply.
Each month you will have to provide DWP with details of your income and expenditure related to the self employment. The difference will be taken into account as earnings when calculating your monthly payment.
Universal Credit payments are not taxable.
Your UC award would be made up of a basic couple allowance, housing element (to help with rent) and a child element. The first £287 of your earnings will be ignored, above this 63% of the excess earnings will be deducted from the UC maximum amount to arrive at the amount payable.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.0 -
If you have been employed for longer than 12 months you will be expected to be making 35x nmw per week. How are you anticipating that you will be fine in January if your partner is not going back to work ?
I earn more than our joint out-goings and we have savings.poppy12345 wrote: »Have a read of this
That looks like an interesting article. I will give it a read. Thank you for posting.Because you are earning less than 35 x NMW from your employment you would be expected to look for additional work to increase your income. If you are consistently getting some income from your self employment your work coach may reduce the hours of job search you are required to do - but they have discretion over this. You will have to complete a Claimant Commitment in order to receive UC, the expectation regarding looking for additional work will be set out in the Commitment and you will nee to evidence what activity you are undertaking. Your partner will also have a Claimant Commitment but as the carer of a long child will not be expected to look for work.
Provided the 'self employment' is not your main employment (so you are not treated as gainfully self employed) the Minimum Income Floor should not apply.
Each month you will have to provide DWP with details of your income and expenditure related to the self employment. The difference will be taken into account as earnings when calculating your monthly payment.
Universal Credit payments are not taxable.
Your UC award would be made up of a basic couple allowance, housing element (to help with rent) and a child element. The first £287 of your earnings will be ignored, above this 63% of the excess earnings will be deducted from the UC maximum amount to arrive at the amount payable.
This is excellent information. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
You've been very helpful and provided a useful insight.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.8K Spending & Discounts
- 235.5K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.2K Life & Family
- 248.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards