WWYD about this money

[thinnerdinner]

I work as a freelancer with no regular income and have to dip into my savings every now and then. DS has a steady job with a good income. I recently spent hours researching and applying to an ‘aid’ which is a good lumpsum amount.

I want to use it as my personal savings and spend it on DC and myself as I don’t know when my next project/income will be. DH thinks we should pay the annual tax with it (he usually pays for it himself). Who is right and WWYD?

You have a rental property in your name?

DH has an income from employment.

You have income from freelance work?

Surely the rental income is your contribution and effectively is your employment - your a LL.

If you are splitting everything 50/50 and then having your own money then it needs to be like this. Or split it proportionally beaded on income.

Or all money becomes family money and it all goes in to the same pot, all goes into joint savings and any extra gets discussed and used for family.

This is all a bit unclear.
Your dh is employed so presumably he is taxed by his employer.
You’re freelance so have to pay your own tax.
You’ve applied for, and received some sort of ‘aid’ on behalf of the dc. But won’t say what it is. And you want to keep this rather than contributing towards the tax bill. Dh wants to use it to pay the tax bill.
You own a house that you rent out.
How are your finances usually organised if you have a fluctuating income?
What is the tax bill for?

Well if I don’t use it to pay tax it will go into my savings and I don’t have to worry about my next project for a few months. I have nothing lined up at the moment so slightly stressed, but hopefully something will come along soon.

YABU to think he should pay more just so you can take your foot off the gas for a few months workwise, while he's still working full-time to fund your break.

It’s a bit unclear but from what you’re saying it does sound like your being unfair.

He works full time. You have rental income and self employed income. All money is shared which means for a while he’s covered your tax bill (as an aside, I always wonder how people don’t just save to cover their tax, it’s not like it’s a surprise). You have some additional money and you’d like to keep it to yourself and get him to still cover your tax bill. Is that right?

I think a man doing that to a woman would pretty quickly get told on here how wrong he was

I've never understood this "mine" and "yours" approach to money in a marriage. All our money goes into a joint account that pays all the bills. As a SAHM for the last 11 years with a small part time job, DH technically pays for pretty much everything, and my small wage goes on extras. When I was working more it went into the pot along with DH's wage and we paid our bills and expenses from the total. No working out who contributes what percentage. Because we are a family and having one person better off than another isn't a good thing.

If your income has dipped, do you owe the tax? Taxation is individual.

I think I missed whose tax bill it actually is - is it yours alone, or is it both yours and DH's? The £ for it should be set aside every month anyway, then used when the bill is due to be paid once per year.

The tax bill is not for my freelance income. I set aside money for that myself. It’s for joint rental income - the income that covers our bills and mortgage.

@thinnerdinner

The tax bill is not for my freelance income. I set aside money for that myself. It’s for joint rental income - the income that covers our bills and mortgage.

But you said the house you rent out is yours? The money you have obtained should go into the joint account to cover joint bills - including tax. You really should be putting aside the tax from your rental income each month so that you don’t end up having to pay a big tax bill.

How does the rental make enough to make a big difference to your household income, but you can't save from that income to pay tax but is also, really, a small tax bill?

The money from the rental is your income if the house is yours. So treat that like dh treats his wage. Use it to pay towards bills then what's left over use for your money/your savings.

I can see how he is thinking. The rental was a burden for a year, during the same time your work dried up. So he was carrying the burden of finances. Now, you get some money but no work on the horizon and you want him to cover your tax bill while keeping the money for yourself.

Why are you not paying your own tax bill?

Your business is not viable if you are not managing to pay your bills, including tax from the income

YABU

Hmm fair enough, I will put it towards the tax bill. Interesting that no one has mentioned that the research/application efforts should be considered in my favour (sob)!

Interesting that no one has mentioned that the research/application efforts should be considered in my favour (sob)!
Add those extra hours on to the hours you actually work, divide the income for that project by the grand total and then you'll see if freelancing is financially viable or not.

@thinnerdinner

Hmm fair enough, I will put it towards the tax bill. Interesting that no one has mentioned that the research/application efforts should be considered in my favour (sob)!

To be fair, no one looks at what job someone actually does when they work out finances. My household expenses aren't based on the tasks i do or dp does. Or the tasks in our job.

So hang on a minute...

You have a rental property (bought pre-marriage in your own name?) that pays enough to cover ALL you rent and bills with no contribution from DH?

What is your DHs income used for?

I think IF you pay this - going forward the first call on the rental income is saving for its tax bill. Then I would say you should split your own rent 50/50 or whatever is appropriate with your DH - paying your half from the rental income. If he's not contributing to his own accommodation/bills then he is somewhat living on your pre marriage saving and should not be keeping you without cash when you don't have a contract...