Does anyone know what I am entitled to?

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HMRC have stopped my tax credits (CTC and WTC) because they say I am not gainfully self-employed. They've made a mistake. When I looked at the figures they have they only took into account one element of my self-employment and completely ignored where the bulk of my earnings come from, so I have appealed but it could take 8 weeks or more if I need to escalate the appeal.

The job center said I am not entitled to JSA as I earn too much from self-employment to be classed as unemployed. If I fold my business I won't be entitled to anything for 6 months. If my business goes bust they will ask for proof that work has dried up, which I don't have because I am actually steadily getting more work/earning more.

I can't claim UC because that is WTC which HMRC say I am not entitled to.

Asking HMRC what to do next is harder than asking a cat to fix my washing machine. They make as much sense as trained monkeys. I honestly think they don't understand tax credits or benefits themselves. The job center direct staff are helpful but swear blind it is tax credits I need and they can't help me.

CAB only run benefits advice services on a Friday and I can't attend on a Friday because that is when I train towards a qualification I am undertaking. If I miss a session, I must make up the hours elsewhere and there aren't enough training sessions through the week for me to make up those hours.

I earn from self-employment;

£60-100 p/m from one element - this income is stagnating
$600-1000 p/m from the other element - this is income is rising steadily and is something I've only been doing since August.

In August I made $120, in Sept I made $470, in October I made $560.

This month thus far I have made $181 and have new work lined up for $670. I seem to get new work every few days now, whereas in August it was only once or twice a week. I'm also able to ask a higher fee than I could in August.

If I worked out of the home I could only work p/t due to study/childcare issues but I am looking for work to fit around study/childcare.

So, what, if anything, I am able to claim other than WTC/CTC?

I don't understand why they would have stopped your CTC when it is clearly just the WTC they are disputing. To claim WTC you must meet the criteria and they are pretty strict about this. You must be doing at least 16 hours a week ( I assume you are a single parent)every week or it must average out to at least 16 hours and I presume they expect you to be earning at least 16 x minimum wage to be considered gainfully self employed. Could it be that some months you haven't met these requirements? I can't think of any way around this , people often have long waits to sort out tax credit issues. have you sent them detailed evidence of earnings/ self employment?

They say I have had all the child tax credits I am entitled to for the year. I have never claimed a childcare element, so I am not sure how this is possible.

I think they are counting WTC they have paid me as CTC. I have tried to ask them on the phone but no matter which department I go through to they tell me it's another department I need to speak to.

I get the same response from the job center but they at least try to help me. They just don't know what I would be entitled to other than WTC based on the figures HMRC ignored.

Yes, I sent them everything and I know they received it all because they sent it all back to me but my earnings from freelancing and the list of work I have completed and have in the pipeline wasn't included on the list of things they looked at when making their decision. They only looked at the other side, which is stagnating as I put it aside to concentrate on freelancing when I realised I could make more money from that.

I would happily put all of it aside to work for someone else if I could find a job with the right hours but I can't and the ones I can find are self-employed again.

Can I just become self-employed again in a different trade?

The Job center say yes. HRMC sometimes say no, they would look at it as fraud. Sometimes they say I need to ask another department