I am self-employed and have generally been on a low income for the last 18 months (below the minimum national wage, I believe that's about £ 120 a week).
I have been having problems with the Housing Benefit Services for months. They kept calculating a wrong income even though I sent them self employed supplements plus bank statements. They maintained that my income is being £ 156 per week.
There's absolutely no way I have been earning that money. In January, for example, my net profit was £ 230 for the whole month. Since then it's been worse.
I don't have children. I checked with online tools and all of them implied clearly that I should be granted near or near full Housing Benefit. Instead, it's been a nightmare for months and I never know what's going to happen next.
I started sending complaints, they finally replied to my letter and it turns out that they are out of their minds.
That's what they basically wrote:
''Your income has been calculated correctly. You stated on your self–employed supplement form that you had a gross profit of £3404.00 during the period 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2012. However, it has been established from your bank statements that you have been making personal drawings which should also be included as part of your gross profit. Therefore, it was determined that during the stated period you actually had a gross profit of £5983.00''
I could not believe that. They are basically adding my gross profits, to my gross profits!!
In my bank statements, there's a simple column for 'paid out' and one for 'paid in'.
When I make any sales, they clearly show in the 'paid in' column. I then draw the money out and transfer them in my personal account. Through online banking, I always mark whatever money I draw out of my business account, as ' (my name)personal drawings £ xxx', so that when I do my bookkeeping, I quickly spot any money that I took out. That obviously always appears in the 'paid out' column. Duh.
But my personal drawings are still my gross profits ,drawn out! They have nothing to do with my gross profits, as my gross profits are calculated separately.
I don't have an accountant for obvious reasons, but why do you think these people are adding my personal drawings to my gross profits? I don't think I am doing anything out of the ordinary. I listed all sales and all expenses and from them I work out my profits. I tried to be as simple and as clear with them as possible. I think it's insane.
I have been having problems with the Housing Benefit Services for months. They kept calculating a wrong income even though I sent them self employed supplements plus bank statements. They maintained that my income is being £ 156 per week.
There's absolutely no way I have been earning that money. In January, for example, my net profit was £ 230 for the whole month. Since then it's been worse.
I don't have children. I checked with online tools and all of them implied clearly that I should be granted near or near full Housing Benefit. Instead, it's been a nightmare for months and I never know what's going to happen next.
I started sending complaints, they finally replied to my letter and it turns out that they are out of their minds.
That's what they basically wrote:
''Your income has been calculated correctly. You stated on your self–employed supplement form that you had a gross profit of £3404.00 during the period 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2012. However, it has been established from your bank statements that you have been making personal drawings which should also be included as part of your gross profit. Therefore, it was determined that during the stated period you actually had a gross profit of £5983.00''
I could not believe that. They are basically adding my gross profits, to my gross profits!!
In my bank statements, there's a simple column for 'paid out' and one for 'paid in'.
When I make any sales, they clearly show in the 'paid in' column. I then draw the money out and transfer them in my personal account. Through online banking, I always mark whatever money I draw out of my business account, as ' (my name)personal drawings £ xxx', so that when I do my bookkeeping, I quickly spot any money that I took out. That obviously always appears in the 'paid out' column. Duh.
But my personal drawings are still my gross profits ,drawn out! They have nothing to do with my gross profits, as my gross profits are calculated separately.
I don't have an accountant for obvious reasons, but why do you think these people are adding my personal drawings to my gross profits? I don't think I am doing anything out of the ordinary. I listed all sales and all expenses and from them I work out my profits. I tried to be as simple and as clear with them as possible. I think it's insane.
