for not declaring my earnings for tax purposes

[sneakylady]

I have a very small business and do cash in hand work a few hours a week and earn £30 - £60 a week, no more, so not exactly a fortune. I have been doing it about 6 months, it comes in handy. dh works, doesn't earn loads, about 23k, we have two little DC. we use it towards the food bill usually.

And I have NO intention of declaring it as it will screw up our already measly tax credits. In fact, I actually feel quite smug for doing it, as we get screwed enough in this country and have every last drop of money squeezed out of us in petrol prices, gas and electric food prices, property prices etc so why shouldn't we keep something for us?

my intention is to slowly build my business then when both DC are at school I will go "legit" and declare it all. AIBU?

I dont blame you - but I wouldnt publicise your business too widely.

I'm a bit po-faced about tax evasion, but I think I might be in the minority.

I don't think you would have to pay tax on such a small amount anyway? I doubt it would mess up your tax credits either.

Do you do party plan? I used to do Vie at Home parties & i know for a fact a lot of women doing that never declared it & they got caught & were made to pay money in lost taxes.

YABU to be smug about it but i can sort of see where you are coming from.

If you do really only earn £30-£60 why dont you just declare it & pay whats due,surely it wont be that much?

YABU to be smug and also to publicise it.

If you should be paying tax then you should pay it.

i think you may be being foolish actually. if you average £45 pw over 52 weeks that's 2,340 p.a. well under taxable earnings. plus you can offset any expenses, and may in fact creat a loss which you could carry forward to use against any future profit.

OTOH, you do need to decalre it within (i think) 3 months and register as self employed, allowing you to avoid a fine.

If, however, you are working and evading tax on this additional income, it's a bit scummy.

"I actually feel quite smug for doing it"

Hope you get caught :)

If i knew anyone who did this i would report them.

i agree with grumpypants!
and WTC are only available to you if you work so by declaring the hours won't you get more? - not an expert on that so could be wrong but might be worth checking.

Are you actually expecting people to say YANBU if you are evading tax?

Normally I would say YANBU, because we do get screwed in this country.

But you aren't being screwed. You are getting tax credits, so you should be grateful that this counrty has such a benefit and you have a choice whether or not to break the law.

You are allowed to earn around £7,000 pa before becoming liable for income tax.

I have no idea if you would affect your tax credits by earning what you do.

I would declare the income, as you should by law file a tax return, even if you have no tax to pay. Also, you can deduct expenses from what you earn, as another poster pointed out.

I like the total hypocrisy of complaining about getting screwed enough in this country while benefitting from tax credits.....

Dunno really. Just wondering what people have to say about it :o
Am a regular btw, have namechanged just in case anyone recognises me from rl and decides to grass.

are you working now though, and this is extra?

Most decent people would say tax evasion, at all levels, is wrong!

So you might now declare it if you stand to get more?

Wow! You are really an upstanding citizen

No, i don't do any other work other than this.

Just looked on "entitled to"'s website and according to that, they would reduce our tc's by about £10 a week if I declared it. And we wouldn't get working tax credit because its less than 15 hours a week I work.

so that would mean i would work an hour for free for the privilege of telling tax credits. hmm don't think so.

:o I am thoroughly enjoying that this is pissing people off.

No need to declare that little for tax purposes, but if you get caught (and here's hoping) you might get prosecuted for benefit fraud, in addition to having to pay back what you've fraudulently claimed.

It would not be 'working for free'

I really hope you get caught :)

I really hope you get caught and it fucks up your existing tax credits and they fine you the maximum fine for this crime. In addition you would payg back everything you owe, fines for filing late returns, and interest on what is outstanding.

It will be far more painful than a tenner a week that's for sure.

You are being a bit stupid for the sake of £10 a week. I have no real issue with you claiming a tenner a week more than you're entitled to, but it's a daft risk. Plus you can make up the hours when you're self employed, do admin, planning etc so you can easily make it 16 hours if you try. You could also claim fuel/% of rent/mortgage/all sorts as business expenses if you look into it. Go legit. DH worked self employed for 9 months or so before registering but we knew he wasn't earning over the tax threshold and weren't getting tax credits at the time, so worst penalty would have been £100 for not registering, rather than £100 plus a tax bill plus a tax credit repayment plus a tax credit penalty which you will get for lying to them.