benifits for self employed ?

[karl.darlington]

hi just joined so I'm not sure if this is the right section but here goes Im wanting to start my own business but the turn over won't be much at the start so before I chuck in the towel at work and start up on my own I wanted to see if there was any chance you can claim any benefits when you become self employed my currency situation is I live with my girlfriend we have a 2 year old daughter and another baby due in august our bills come to round about 1000 pound a month so you can imagine I don't want to dive in at the deep end and leave my family without security and a home any advice would be great thanks

[citizenB]

I have seen a similar question asked on one of the longer running threads, so yes I think you are in the right forum. If you arent, then someone will relocate you.

 

I will also flag your thread for some site team attention

[karl.darlington]

cheers

[scotgal68]

You can claim tax credits as S/E.

You're supposed to fill in your income, which is your profit. It is for the previous years income. Because you are/just became self employed, you would leave that part 'income from self employment' on application form blank.

 

This refers

 

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/start/claiming/income-hours/self-employed-income.htm#5

Edited April 2, 2013 by citizenB
repaired broken link

[postggj]

i would think you can claim housing/council tax benefit as that goes on your house hold income and not subject to any state benefits

 

job seekers allowance may be a problem if you leave your current job as it will be seen as making yourself unemployed

 

that's my take on it but wait for confirmation

[scotgal68]

Tax Credits affect the amount of HB and CTB you might be entitled to.You might also be entitled to JSA, but that depends on your hours spent working in your s/e capacity.

If you claim JSA jointly with your wife you can work on your s/e business for up to 24 hours a week (assuming still on low/no income), Although you still have to be actively seeking work

[Conniff]

Do you really have to give up your present employment while you get this off the ground ?

[scotgal68]

I agree with Conniff, something to think about

[daveydavey]

some aspects to think about :

if the s/e doesn't work out & you try to claim JSA, your claim could end up being disallowed for leaving your previous employment 'voluntarily', so no benefit.

under universal debit (oh sorry credit) which may be introduced as soon as oct 13 , isn't there something about the self employed being assumed to earn 35 hours x the minimum wage as a basis for their universal credit award ? that's clear profit of around £240 per week. If you earn less than that, your income will still be counted as approx £240. Please correct me if i'm wrong. Seems a lot of self-employed people are going to take a big hit when UC replaces tax credits.

[scotgal68]

I think you're right DaveyD but for newly s/e there is a bedding in period :

It was recognised that there would be the need for claimants who are setting up a business to be given time to establish themselves and find sources of support. Therefore where a claimant has been self-employed for less than 12 months, a start up period will be granted. This means that claimants will not be required to satisfy work-search or availability requirements, and the Minimum Income Floor will not be applied thereby giving them time to concentrate on developing their business.

[jadeybags]

I'm self employed & not making 240 a week, what i'm planning on doing is working part time somewhere else as well, would that count?

[biggeorge]

If your on JSA and not the Work Programme you can claim NEA which gives you £66 for 13 weeks then drops to £33 for 13 weeks, Not much but helps.

You would also be able to claim working tax credits until the business starting taking off.

 

In a similar situation but I'm on the WP and can't claim the NEA and support is down to the Work Programme, Maximum support adviser said would be £150.

 

George

[scotgal68]

Yes Jadey, that's the expectation, that UC customers will supplement their income with p/t work so they can reach the minimum Income floor x

[jadeybags]

Yes Jadey, that's the expectation, that UC customers will supplement their income with p/t work so they can reach the minimum Income floor x

 

Phew, that's ok then. This all coincides with my son leaving 6th form so I wont be up & down the school up to 4 times a day (daughter is there too & leaves yr 11 this yr to go to college) so I can do that. If they had bought this UC in a year ago I would have been up the creek without a paddle lol would have had to work nights, but wouldn't have been able to sleep in the day.

That's if I can't make more money with the self employed work anyway. At the moment it's an average of 100 a week profit, so nowhere near what HMRC will want.

[impecunious]

If your on JSA and not the Work Programme you can claim NEA which gives you £66 for 13 weeks then drops to £33 for 13 weeks, Not much but helps.

You would also be able to claim working tax credits until the business starting taking off.

 

In a similar situation but I'm on the WP and can't claim the NEA and support is down to the Work Programme, Maximum support adviser said would be £150.

 

George

 

 

 

Hi George

 

Just a quickie ... what's NEA?? I'm self-employed but not earning anything yet (under 16 hours/week) and claiming JSA. Obviously, I'd be a lot happier and more satisfied if I could progress my self-employment (have stock, website, business cards, etc) rather than be "forced" to accept any old job after 6 months of being "unemployed".

 

Impecunious!

[biggeorge]

Hi Impecunious, NEA is the New Enterprise Allowance

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/new-enterprise-allowance/

 

You should have a look into it if your not earning anything yet and can claim it.

 

George

[impecunious]

Thanks George

 

 

I didn't recognise the acronym -- I have actually looked at it before but didn't think I was eligible. I think I'll look at it again, especially as my 6 month period of contribution based JSA will be up at beginning of June and once income-based JSA kicks in, I'll be struggling.

 

 

 

Impecunious!

Edited April 3, 2013 by impecunious

[flumps1976]

If the OP does decide to give up work to claim JSA whilst setting up a new s/e business then a reeferral may still be made to DMA for leaving voluntariy.

NEA can be accessed from day 1 of a claim for JSA now but only if the NEA adviser deems that the business would be viable and then financial suppot from the NEA could be considered.

If you did decide to go ahead with a claim for JSA whilst setting up the s/e the OP could only work up to 16 hours before the claim would be closed, it is apartner who can work up to 24 hours per week not the customer sorry.