Help with working tax credits as a self employed person

[Wolf9900]

So as I said I work for myself and I get my wage topped up by working tax credits 225 a month 

 

now my job has gone mostly online and I have lost most of my customers as lot are old and dont want to do shopping online and so I am having to start over again and everything I earn from the job is going back into the business to buy needed stuff

 

anyway my worry is while this is good now as I live with my mum and dont pay full bills I give her a hundred a month for rent and food and the rest goes to pay my debts which are large question is mum is in her early 70s now and I am worried about her passing would I get more working tax credits if I am the one on the rent book living alone also I assume I would get housing benefit especially at 44 I am 20 plus years away from retirement and have zero savings

 

also as a side can anyone point me towards a work from home jobs that are good and guarantee a wage as I would like to add a second job to try and save some money towards my retirement even if its only 100 a month or even 50 as long as its guaranteed 

[unclebulgaria67]

If you need help with Housing  when it is in your name, you are likely to have to claim Universal Credit which can include help towards Housing rent.  I don't believe it is possible to claim Council Housing Benefits and to stay on Tax Credits. Universal Credit has gradually been taking over and I believe by the end of 2024 those currently on Tax Credits will be migrated to claiming Universal Credit anyway.

 

Who provides the Housing ?  Private landlord, Housing Association or is it supported housing through the Council ?

 

So presuming that you will have to claim Universal Credit, you would have to go through a verify self employment (known as Gateway) appointment at a Job Centre.  They will look at your self-employment to see whether it is possible for you to earn National Minimum wage based on full time job 35 hours per week.  Currently someone of your age on minimum wage working 35 hours per week, would be taking home about £1300 per month.  Universal Credit may decide you are gainfully self employed and apply presumed earnings, known as minimum income floor (MIF) which could be the £1300 for someone full time. This would mean that when Universal Credit monthly payments are calculated, the would apply the MIF when calculating whether you were due any Universal Credit and if so how much.  It is possible they could apply a start up period of up to 12 months, where the MIF is not applied, giving you a chance to improve your self-employed business.

 

Example of how UC might be calculated if a MIF based on 35 hours work were applied to a claim/

Standard Allowance £334.91

Housing (say)  £600

total before deductions £934.91

 

Earnings deduction based on £1300 MIF ( for every £1, 55 pence deduction applied)

  deduction that would be applied £715.00

 

Total award after deduction £219.31

 

If you earned less than £1300 they would still apply the MIF value of £1300. If you earned above £1300 in a month, they would take into account the higher amount.  If you  are earning very little from self-employment, you do not want to be found gainfully self-employed, as you will find yourself in financial difficulites when the MIF is applied.

 

The other possibility is that Universal Credit believe you are not gainfully self-employed, as the business is not organised and developed enough to provide you with sufficient earnings. If this is the case, you have to attend regular Job Centre appointments to see what standard employed jobs you could do, to earn you enough money.  So you could end up doing a mixture of limted self-employment and some normal employment. 

 

If you are a carer for someone in receipt of a disability benefits for at least 35 hours per week, then they would not be able to find you gainfully self-employed and you would just report any net monthly earnings. which would be used to calculate any Universal Credit awards.  You would also not have to attend Job Centre appointments.

 

If you have health conditions or disaibilites yourself, you would have to disclose this and go through an assessment process under Universal Credit.  They could then look at how these affect you working.

 

As for working from home, these are mostly for office type work e.g. Telephone Sales. Customer Services, Accounts.   Have a look on Reed.co.uk, where you can search for work  from home jobs.

 

 

 

 

[Wolf9900]

Hi the house is council one

 

my area has not had the change where tax credits and other benefits become universal credit yet but for sure I would have by the time this will come in to play sounds like I should be the me working national minimum wage is a no my business is paid a commission so the income is  up and down each month I normally dont earn enough to pay tax

[unclebulgaria67]

Depending on the Housing and Council policy, you may be faced with being asked to leave and find other housing after a period, following the passing of your Mum.  Come across quite a lot of people receiving correspondence from Council Housing within about a month or so, following the passing of the tenant.  Council allows the person(s) remaining in the House to have a use & occupation agreement for a period subject to them paying the rent, but sometimes they do not allow them to become the tenant.   

 

If you are still doing the self employed work when you do end up claiming UC,  if the earnings are small, then you are most likely to be found not gainfully self employed and be expected to search for normal employment. This will require regular Job Centre appointments.  If you can find normal employment and can earn about £400 a month net, this should avoid you having regular Job Centre appointments.

[Wolf9900]

Hi the house is council one

 

my area has not had the change where tax credits and other benefits become universal credit yet but for sure I would have by the time this will come in to play sounds like I should be the me working national minimum wage is a no my business is paid a commission so the income is  up and down each month I normally dont earn enough to pay tax

 

Sorry for the delay been away and came back sick 

 

I have had a friend who was in the position I am looking at and they asked him to move to a flat but he said no and they allowed them to stay but I dont know the law has changed since then this was a while back 

 

as for earnings my job has kind of shafted me going online as I pay most of what I earn back to them for needed supplies 

 

anyway thanks for the answer I will look into it more one reason I was thinking is when I renewed my tax credits there was a section to click on about seeing if I was able to get other benefits did not do it but might be worth looking at just to see 

 

 

[Wolf9900]

Forgot to add so if at that time I was signing on I would have no issues at all with the house

 

also how does the job centre treat older people I know I cannot retire as only have a state pension to look forward to and that is not till 2046 thanks to new rules which might change again under the tory government so ay I have 6 years till retirement do they still expect you to be taking any kind of job or are they more understanding that at your age certain jobs are not suitable  

[unclebulgaria67]

Your self employment if not earning very much (say less than £500 monthly) may mean that the Job Centre don't see it as being main employment as not paying enough to live on. Therefore they expect you to search for standard employed job of any type that you could do.

 

When you have to move from tax credits to Universal Credit, you will have to just follow the process and provide the information required. Once your claim is set up, the Job Centre will tell you what is required.

 

 

 

 

[Wolf9900]

Fine this funny as they forced me to take this job like this back in the day I said I earn on commission they said its ok as long as you work full time hours a week which I do you are ok