Thank you for taking the time to read my problem.

For the last two and a half years ive been selling virtual items on ebay whilst claiming DWP.

A week ago I was asked to attend an interview at my local Job Centre, of which I did and was told by the interviewer that I had been informed on for making money and not declaring it.

I told the interviewer I had indeed been doing that and he asked me to bring 3 months bank statements in next week.

I went home that same day and printed off 3 months bank statements and as I did so the realisation hit me that I was in a lot of trouble.

The over payment is around £8.200.00

My intensions are to be honest and cooperative from the start, so I will go back to the Job Centre in a few days and hand them the statements.

I wont lie to you I am very scared and wish I had never done this, but what I need to know is what should I expect once ive given him those statements?.

what will the process be?.

Is there anything I need to know or do to make this go better in my favour?.

The DWP im claiming is carers allowance for my partner.

I have never done anything like this before and its realy playing on my mind.

Hello and welcome to CAG.

According to one well known benefit calculator, you can earn up to £116 pw and be paid carer's allowance. Have your earnings been more than this?

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Carer-s-Allowance/What-is-Carer-s-Allowance

HB

Hi and welcome to CAG,

Ideally you need to do a ''better off calculation'' to see what, if anything, you MIGHT have been overpaid, and what you CAN earn before they take it into account.

Who gave you this figure of 8k?

Did you complete a proforma regarding outgoings etc as this will all need calculating, it's not just about what you sold but all the add-ons, like packaging and postage etc.

I think its a DX788 or something similar, they should have given you one at the interview.

Was the interview with compliance or under caution?

Hello Bazooka Boo

I myself came to this amount.

I just added up the last two and a half years at £63.00

Hello tomtom256

The first interview was with compliance.

Thats where they put it to me that someone had informed on me for selling on Ebay.

The next interview is where they want me to bring in 3 Months Statements of which i will comply with, as i want to be honest and cooperative.

First and foremost you are not guilty of anything at this moment in time, so that is worth considering.

As others have advised you are allowed to earn x amount of money before you need to declare, so the figure that you have worked out as not being declared would and I assume be less than the figure you have calculated for starters.

Is selling on E-Bay and making profit classed as earnings or would need to be declared in any event, they are items that are in theory your property and if you make profit on your property as opposed to deliberately working.

Other posters on here will be more up on this subject but my initial thinking is that you are fully entitled to make profit from your own personal possesions and whether this shows on your statement I would argue that point.

Hello honeybee13

I didnt realy keep track of the amounts like i realy should of.

Some weeks i would make around £40.00 and others i would make around 130.00

The items i sold where virtual digital items and i sold them from £0.99 upto £24.99

because there was so many transactions per month i never kept track of the amounts.

I feel realy stupid i wont lie to you.

Hello spitfire1964

Thank you for your reply.

Ive decided tomorrow i will ring round a couple of solicitors that deal in benefit law and see what advice i can get from them.

I will keep this thread updated on this matter from start to finish as i hope it will be helpfull to anyone in a similar situation.

If its all with compliance they will be no conviction etc from this, they will just want to put the benefit right and either cancel it back and create an overpayment and/or check that you have been receiving it correctly.

Can you not get a transaction list from paypal and/or ebay with what was sold etc and then how much it would have cost if anything to create these virtual items and crate a set of books from this?

What were the virtual items you have been selling?

Was it a business i.e. did or do you have a business account with ebay?

Have you paid any necessary taxes to HMRC?

Hello tomtom256

Thanks for your reply.

The items i was selling are virtual items within sertain game worlds,i will try and explain.

The items are rewards for doing sertain things within the game world, you can then send these items to anyone who has the same game via ingame mailbox.

I discovered there was people on ebay making money from this so i decided to try it myself.

The ebay account is just a normal account.

so you were trading 'vitual credit' in return for cash?

What is the total amount you received divided by total number of weeks trading on e-bay?

Hello marner51

This wasnt credit it was Ingame items like Armor/weapons and cosmetic items.

These items allow your character to become more powerful or just look kool ingame.

Regarding the total amount i made i have no idea.

what i would like to know is when i take those statements down on the 28/09/17 should i say anything to them? , for example they will see that £100 transfared to my bank say on monday and another £110 on wednesday, now i didnt make that money in 3 days by selling on Ebay it may of took about 3 weeks as i would save it up in my paypal then transfare it to my bank.

Or do i just take them in and say nothing?

Say nothing.

The problem is if you say nothing they may just take the whole period of CA back to the start of the claim leaving you with a large overpayment, you actually explain what you have been doing is a hobby etc and the OP may be significantly less as there may be periods were you did not have any income from the selling.

Say nothing.

Thank you for your reply.

The problem is if you say nothing they may just take the whole period of CA back to the start of the claim leaving you with a large overpayment, you actually explain what you have been doing is a hobby etc and the OP may be significantly less as there may be periods were you did not have any income from the selling.

Thank you for your reply.

Ive decided if asked by the person im handing the statements too that the transfares he is seeing are from money that was saved over a long period in my paypal.Im going to assume at some point down the line they will want to see my paypal account to get an acurate read on this.

You have declared these savings from the beginning yes?

If not, then they're going to drill down deeper.

Just to clarify, I didnt have any savings when i applied for carers allowance,

the savings im talking about are from what i would save up in my paypal from sales of my items.

i moved £100 that £100 may of taken a couple of weeks to save up,

but on my bank statements they will just see i transfared £100 and they could assume i made that £100 in that day.

Just to clarify, I didnt have any savings when i applied for carers allowance,

the savings im talking about are from what i would save up in my paypal from sales of my items.

 

i moved £100 that £100 may of taken a couple of weeks to save up,

but on my bank statements they will just see i transfared £100 and they could assume i made that £100 in that day.

And that is all a DM can do if you do not explain how the money came about, which could be the difference between an OP and still being entitled.

And that is all a DM can do if you do not explain how the money came about, which could be the difference between an OP and still being entitled.

@tomtom256

Can you please be a little clearer and explain what you mean thank you.

A DM (decision maker) would assume that you made £100 that day, UNLESS you explain to them the circumstances, otherwise they will claim they OP (overpaid) you.

A DM (decision maker) would assume that you made £100 that day, UNLESS you explain to them the circumstances, otherwise they will claim they OP (overpaid) you.

Yes thats what im thinking too.

you need to calculate not only what you made in every week that is applicable but also calculate your costs as well. Listing fees, paypal charges etc can all be knocked off the sales receipts to give you a lesser net income.

As the amounts will be sporadic try and avoid letting them make assumptions for overall amounts and stick to the week by week amounts. It complicates things but as you will have a weekly, monthly and annual threshold for earnings utilise them to yur advantage rather then let them take teh easyy option.

For example, if you make ( say) £1000 in a particular week and £2.00 a week for the rest of the year lumping them together will mean your benefits were possibly overpaid for all 52 weeks by a tenner wheras by separating the amounts you were only overpaid in 1 week.

you need to calculate not only what you made in every week that is applicable but also calculate your costs as well. Listing fees, paypal charges etc can all be knocked off the sales receipts to give you a lesser net income.

 

As the amounts will be sporadic try and avoid letting them make assumptions for overall amounts and stick to the week by week amounts. It complicates things but as you will have a weekly, monthly and annual threshold for earnings utilise them to yur advantage rather then let them take teh easyy option.

 

For example, if you make ( say) £1000 in a particular week and £2.00 a week for the rest of the year lumping them together will mean your benefits were possibly overpaid for all 52 weeks by a tenner wheras by separating the amounts you were only overpaid in 1 week.

Yes i understand.