UC AET and confusion

[confusedaboutaet]

I know there’s a couples AET and if one partner works enough the other has no work commitments but from what I can see if the partner who earns enough is self employed they disregard those earnings completely? ?

So they then make the other partner work to reach the AET but as soon as they do they then count the SE earnings as income and make deductions? Is that correct?! So SE earnings initially don’t count but then they do?

Or am I getting this wrong as it seems ridiculous?

Yeah this is about right. Self employed earnings don't count towards the AET but are still counted towards overall income and deductions are made for them. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Sorry forgot to add, if you want the self employed earnings to be taken into account then you'd need to get UC to register you as "gainfully self employed" but then you're hit by the MIF instead which is even worse!

Is the MIF higher than the AET

Yes it's about double the AET if I remember right 😬

How ridiculous 😭

Not as ridiculous as there being an AET for a single mum, but none for a mum in a relationship with someone on a low wage, who has the benefit of having a partner financially, more support, possibly more childcare options.

Is the AET for a single parent half the couple AET? If not then I see your point

That’s incorrect self employed earnings are never taken into account for the AET. Whether you are gainfully self employed or not.

@BoobsOnTheMoon and the MIF isn’t double the AET. The MIF is nmw x the amount of hours the claimant is expected to work based on their circumstances.

So someone expected to work 35 hours a week the MIF would be £1851. The couples AET is £1534 single £952. All amounts are due to rise in April

I didn't say this would make the self employed earnings count towards the AET, if you read my post more carefully. I can see how you misinterpreted my post, but that's not actually what I said. I didn't mention the AET in that post. I was talking about becoming "gainfully self employed" and how that brought you under the MIF which is, IMO, worse than the AET.

And as your second post clearly shows, the MIF for a single person is roughly double the AET for a single person.

I find this absurd they are not taken into account for the AET but are considered for overall earnings when calculating UC.

Basically you are either considered gainfully self employed (and subject to the MIF) or employed (and subject to the AET).

You cannot combine self employed and employed earnings to reach whichever of those thresholds is applied to your claim. I personally think this is ridiculous and should be changed. If you're earning then you're earning.

But anyway, the MIF/AET is a separate thing to the total income that is used to calculate your award every month - that sum is made up of all earned income, whether from employment or self employment.