Carers Allowance Being Self-Employed

[Pereea]

Wondering if anyone can help me. I can get carers allowance due to my child’s DLA. I am a self-employed tutor, so some weeks I’m over the threshold (leading up to exams for
example) but then during school holidays like now I earn basically nothing. My total yearly income is well below the threshold for carers. However, how much of a pain is it to claim with fluctuations in weekly income? Will I need to be submitting returns and invoices all the time? I’m not sure whether it’s worth the hassle or not. I also do my tax return yearly rather than monthly so that’s another hassle to consider, and I’ve read carers allowance don’t just accept tax returns anyway it has to be full statements of account.

Can anyone advise? Is it worth the hassle?

@Pereea it'd be worth your while.

If you contact the Carers allowance unit, being self employed, you could come to an arrangement which will determine how often you report your earnings.

From this site ; para 4
If you are in employment and have fluctuating earnings, it is possible for your earnings to be averaged out over a recognisable cycle of work or over five weeks, or over another period if this means a more accurate weekly amount can be calculated.

Thank you. Do you know how much evidence I’d be expected to submit? Would it need to be bank statements, invoices, all receipts for business expenses?

I do all of this at the end of the year when I have childcare for a whole day, it wouldn’t work if I was doing it on a semi-regular basis because I wouldn’t have anyone to watch my child whilst getting all this paperwork together and scanned etc.

I’m self employed and have claimed CA for years, I have never submitted anything to them to basically report my earnings I just declare all my earnings on my tax return each year.

I believe they just use the figure off your tax return. I’ve never been pulled up on anything.

Oh ok, it says online about how they won’t accept a tax return and that you need to submit a full breakdown of bank statements, invoices, receipts, business expenses… if I was having to do that on a regular basis I don’t think it would be possible for me to claim it. I will call them and ask all of this.