I have a rather difficult situation, regarding Jobseeker's Allowance, tax, and potential work, and would appreciate any accurate advice.
After losing my job with a charity around two years ago, I decided to become self-employed and scrape by, working with other charities, rather than claiming any kind of benefit. I was registered as self-employed with HMRC, and completed a tax return for my first year of business, but did not make anywhere near enough to have to pay anything.
However, in January this year, I ran out of clients - all folding due to funding deficits - and couldn't afford to keep my business going. So I unregistered as self-employed with HMRC, and was forced to apply for income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. My application was successful and I receive the full amount each week.
Now, two months later, I have been approached by two old clients who have jobs for me. The money and hours are uncertain (it's design work) but won't amount to more than the allowed 16 hours per week, or be likely to exceed more than £1000 in total (I'm guessing), spread over whatever time it takes. The projects themselves are just growing.
The advice I'm after is:
Thank you for your time. Any help would be much appreciated!
Cheers in advance.
G
After losing my job with a charity around two years ago, I decided to become self-employed and scrape by, working with other charities, rather than claiming any kind of benefit. I was registered as self-employed with HMRC, and completed a tax return for my first year of business, but did not make anywhere near enough to have to pay anything.
However, in January this year, I ran out of clients - all folding due to funding deficits - and couldn't afford to keep my business going. So I unregistered as self-employed with HMRC, and was forced to apply for income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. My application was successful and I receive the full amount each week.
Now, two months later, I have been approached by two old clients who have jobs for me. The money and hours are uncertain (it's design work) but won't amount to more than the allowed 16 hours per week, or be likely to exceed more than £1000 in total (I'm guessing), spread over whatever time it takes. The projects themselves are just growing.
The advice I'm after is:
- How do I declare this work without knowing the exact hours, time-scale, or money to be paid?
- Do I need to tell HMRC about the work? Do I have to re-register as self-employed, or will all this be taken care of via the Job Centre? (I will have to complete another tax return for 2012-2013 anyway, since I was self-employed for a period.)
- And, lastly, is it worth accepting this work financially?
Thank you for your time. Any help would be much appreciated!
Cheers in advance.
G