Self employment and tax credits - how tf?!

[COCKadoodledooo]

So, having failed to persuade anyone to employ me, I'm considering working for myself. Cleaning, ironing, clothes repairs/alterations, that sort of thing. Have been asked to look after neighbour's children before/after school too, but not sure if I need to be registered before being paid for that?

Atm we get tax credits (dh earning, nowhere near the 41k threshold), and we need extra cash for luxuries - you know, like food For one, how much (if any) can I earn before these are affected? Do I have to tell tax credits now that this is my intention even though I'm not earning yet?

I know when we do the renewal next year I'll have to declare income from this year, however all correspondence we've ever had from them says to notify them immediately of a change in earnings. How does that work in practice then?

I mean, one week I may clean 2 houses and do 3 baskets of ironing, the next week just 1, do I seriously have to phone them every week?

Help/advice please? TIA.

Tax Credits are based on taxable household income. If you set yourself up as self-employed you should register with HMRC so that you can pay any tax due on what you earn and get your NI paid up. From the amount of work you describe, you probably won't be over the personal allowance threshold for tax. Then when it comes to your claim for April 2012-2013, use your 2011/12 income for the declaration. No need to tell them before then.

To see how it would affect your claim, estimate what you might earn and then run the Benefits Checker. You can rerun it to see what happens to your award if you earn less or more than you estimate. HTH

I always told them the average amount of hours - if it is over 16 you may get help with childcare costs.