To give up working?

[lardyscouse]

I am on Jobseekers allowance and have recently managed to get a few hours work as a dog walker. I declared my first £30 pay on 19th June, since then I have earned another £20 [also declared] but DWP rules do not allow you to take off fares etc so, in reality, I have earned £10. I have now been deducted £50 per fortnight which leaves me with £8.80 to live on after rent top up. If I give up the work I will be sanctioned.

Its not worth bloody working!

Agree with Gottagetmoving

oh that's awful

how does the maths work out on carrying on working vs. the sanctioning?

Outrageous that they won't let you knock off travel costs.

what's your local MP like, is it worth writing to them re sanctions?

so sorry this is happening to you.

Why don't you try to get more hours instead? Quite short sighted to just give up!

If you can't give up the work without being sanctioned then the only thing to do is try and find more work.

Work more hours?

I'd quite like to get a job that involves taking a couple of dogs on a walk a few times a week but hey ho...

Dog walking is not a proper job unless you have the time, nous and wherewithal to build it into a proper business.

Not shortsighted. I can't afford to get leaflets etc printed on my earnings and there is very much a hierarchy of established walkers around here so it will take a while to build up a business.

Random question but do you live in Liverpool and do you do cleaning work?

You are (presumably) self employed as a dog walker, but you have declared your gross earnings. I think you should possibly have declared your net earnings, as you would do for tax purposes.

For tax purposes, your actual earnings would be Gross Earnings minus allowable deductions. Allowable deductions for a dog walker would be (I would guess) fuel or fares, poo bags, maybe dog treats if you use them, Special clothing or footwear (if required and if kept exclusively for your job) .

I would go back and discuss it with them again, emphasise that this is sel-employed earnings, and tell them what your net earnings are.

[I'd quite like to get a job that involves taking a couple of dogs on a walk a few times a week but hey ho...]

So, I walk 2 miles to pick up a dog and walk it for an hour then walk 2 miles back home, every day?

[Dog walking is not a proper job unless you have the time, nous and wherewithal to build it into a proper business.] which is the problem, if I deduct the bus fare it results in £1.70 per hour, if I don't then it's 4 hours per dog walk. The DWP rules do not allow me to build it up. If I could deduct the fare I could walk more dogs per day. If I could leaflet then ditto.

No, why? do you know me? [waves from the Wirral].

My last Job was with the DWP as an advisor. It's a crap system and the current B7 will not allow you to treat yourself as 'properly' self employed and deduct expenses.

Don't want to ask you too many questions, OP, but (if you are able to say) can you tell us if you have children, a partner, what other benefits you receive, and how many hours you are available to work ... it's just that I might have an idea that could help you.

I think you should only have had £45 deducted as you are entitled to earn £5 as a single person and £10 as a couple.

Can you invoice your customers for £x for walking and £y for travel costs = £10 (and only declare the £x to JSB)?

Anyone using their own vehicle for self-employment is allowed to charge up to 45p per mile. But the problem is that anyone using public or private transport to get to a P/T or F/T job isn't usually reimbursed travel costs.

You could build this up into a very good self-employment business to be honest. There are people who want dog-sitting at weekends and holidays. But you would need to start keeping accounts now. You can then charge for marketing (leaflets and advertising). You would also be able to pay yourself an allowance for having meal breaks away from your office (I think that is up to £5 for lunch and £15.50 for evening meal).

You can actually get funding for setting up your own business:

www.gov.uk/starting-up-a-business/start-with-an-idea

I'm single, but with an attached dawg.

Ah ... cross post ... I see your last job was with the DWP as an advisor.

So you probably already know exactly what my idea was!

Understood. Thank you.

Oooh. I shall look at the funding link, thank you. Thing is, people really like me [as do their dogs] but... I do wish they would live closer to me.

Just to add, I'm not leaving the thread per se but am orf to walk 2 cavaliers. [another £1.70] and will only be able to follow on my phone later until I nick my mates laptop again tomorrow so, If no replies, I've not cut and run.

Just to add, I'm not leaving the thread per se but am orf to walk 2 cavaliers. [another £1.70] and will only be able to follow on my phone later until I nick my mates laptop again tomorrow so, If no replies, I've not cut and run.

Sadwidow has already covered a lot of it.

Classify yourself as self-employed, apply for self-assessment, use the government guide, check for start-up courses in your area ... and ... come straight off job-seekers allowance and go straight on to working tax credit.

Certainly to claim working tax credit, you have to be working 32 hours per week, BUT as a start-up business it is bona-fide to have a majority of those hours spent on start-up activities. Leaflet dropping, learning how to do books, walking all those miles you are faced with, etc,etc ... all that would (initially) take up a huge amount of that 32 hours. In the early months, it is perfectly possible that your 32 hours per week work, would only net you £30 pounds per week, but you would be eligible for working tax credit, which would enable you to live while building up your business.

Hi lardy , no I just live in Liverpool and need a reliable cleaning if you were looking to do some additional hours
I hope the dog walking works out for you sounds like a great opportunity if you are an animal lover.
Shame the dwp don't make it easy for people especially with UC coming in.

Are you on Facebook with your business OP? If not you need to be. MNake a page for your service, get all your friends to like it...and share it...Get on all the local selling sites, join, ask them if you can advertise..most sites let you...

[I think you should only have had £45 deducted as you are entitled to earn £5 as a single person and £10 as a couple.]

But, and I have checked, the £50 deduction was BEFORE I declared the following £20.

So, an assumption [erroneous] has been made that I earn £0 per week, every week.

Are you employed as a dog walker, OP, or self employed? If you become a self employed dog walker and start it up as a business you can claim working tax credit, and deduct travel and expenses from your earnings for HB etc.