Sensible thread for self-employed people

[Bflatmajorsharp]

Could we have one please?

You know, where we don't have to continually confirm that yes we pay the same taxes as employed people, yes we pay slightly less NI but don't have access to SSP or pension contributions, yes the HMRC does know what we earn as we submit a tax return each year.

It's really struck me this weekend that offering no financial support to the 5million SE/gig workers is a public health issue.

People are still going to work because they can't afford not to. Some London tubes were packed today with people who cannot social distance, not because their jobs are vital but because they cannot afford not to work.

I hope that the govt address this sharpish. It's so dangerous.

It must be net profit. That's our take home pay. Gross profit is what the business takes then the business, not personal, expenses are deducted. What's left is what we pay tax on. Net profit is what we submit to hmrc. That's what they'll be basing eligibility on. I submit a partnership return that has an income and expenditure that includes gross profit and expenses. My own personal tax return only declares net profit.

@MaxNormal - thank you, that explains it all a lot better than the press conference or the BBC page!

My accountant confirms taxable amount.

Phew!

So is that per month or spread over 3 months? If your average profit over 3 years was 6k then 80% is 4.8k. Is that 1600k per month? And what do we do till June

2019/2020 wont be taken into account then?

No 19/20 won't count as it's not due in until next year.

Also if you have worked too, and less than 50% of you income was from self employment you’ll get nothing?

Shame that would of bumped my average up :(

It's baffling to see that we can still work. So my husband who's income hasn't been affected will get it too!! That's mad!!

So does anyone know is CIS self employed will qualify for this?

Hi All, I am a single parent, part time SE earning approx 19k, savings around 6k. I can work to some extent from home, but obviously having my son at home with me is limiting how much I can do plus clients are dropping like flies all over the place. I am likely to have some income over the next 2-3 months but not as much as usual. Add to this I get tax credits and some housing benefit. Does anyone know if I will be eligible for at least a percentage of my current wage if earnings are less over the next few months? I'm really confused as I have a rather complicated setup. Thanks :)

@WwfLeopard. Me too, massively. I had such a terrible year the year before, literally halved my usual income. Ah well.

@Teddypops - I can't see anything on the Gov page that says you can keep working. It doesn't say you can't, either!

Still doesn't give enough detail about how this actually works yet and what needs to happen for you to actually quality. It says it is valid for 3 months up til May. So that suggests all of March. We weren't shut down at the beginning of march so I will be invoicing for March shortly. Does that mean that I could only claim for loss of income in April and May?

Or does it genuinely mean that if you have filed those 3 years of tax returns and have a profit below £50k as an average then you will automatically get a grant covering 80% of your average monthly profit? Regardless of whether you made money in March/April/May?

Martin Lewis states you can still work

So my husband who's income hasn't been affected will get it too!!

One of the conditions is that your income has been affected.

How do they know if your income has been affected?

I interpreted the "so you can continue to work" not as you can physically keep working and getting paid via the grant and by you actual job but that once all this is over and work picks up that you can continue in that work rather than look for a new job as PAYE or claim benefits? Sure it will all become clear soon.

I was on maternity allowance for 9 months of 17/18 so only 1/4 of my normal income. I wonder if there will be any allowance for how much this will take my average down?

My MP says they can't stop SE people working.

I really don’t know how they can tell if your income has dropped

We were self employed just the two of us, but then we became a Ltd company as advised by our accountant.
No way would I claim UC if still self employed, unless I really had to. going by the current rules, not sure if they'll relax them but you need to be seeking work, going for interviews and taking anything that comes along.

Rats, DP worked as PAYE for one of his clients for most of the 2018/19 tax year, so that may or may not disqualify him, unless it is more than 50% in total for the three years.

And we've just heard today that the Isle of Wight festival has been cancelled, which would have been a good earner for him. I suppose we'll just have to see when the forms come out and make an application.

So does anyone know is CIS self employed will qualify for this

I would think so. You are still SE only diff is they take tax up front and you claim it back. Still do self-assessment though and claim expenses etc. Xxx

My DH is CIS so fingers crossed!

Glad that savings don't seem to be part of it

still don't really know how it'll work, but it has potential.

My income has been affected, but partly because I expected to earn more this year as things have been growing from year to year. So if I earned my average amount, that's lower than expected/budgeted for. It will be hard to prove that though. And I don't know how much you have to pay back, if you haven't lost that much.

I hope you are allowed to keep working in the meantime, as you need continuity with clients.

In some places, it says you will 'apply for' the grant; in others, it says it would be automatic based on your tax returns, and just come to your bank account. Though I don't think they know anything about my bank account? i've never given them that number or anything, apart from when I pay the tax bill twice a year, but I don't think they could go back to that. Maybe they can though. I've never had a refund so never needed to give them bank details.

Bimble there's a section on the SA form where it asks you to enter your bank details in case you're due a rebate.

I've never had a rebate, but always completed this section of the form.