JobSeekers, Taxes & Partnership...

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AnonymousPostings

New Member
So I just wanted to start by saying I think it would be a really good idea to have an anonymous section to the site where people with issues can go and get advice without making it known that its them with the issue, i had to made a second account since this topic i'm going to be asking about could cause me to be in some serious problems and i don't want it getting back to my channel until i've sorted everything out, so thats just a bit of an idea :)

So about a year ago my channel got partnered with the SocialBlade network, at the time i was claiming JobSeekers Allowance (JSA) as a UK resident due to the fact i'd just finished university and was looking for work, sadly I took ill not long after that and was put on ESA (employment support allowance) while my I went through surgeries to get back on my feet, last week i went back on JSA now finally being able to walk but during my entire talk on ESA and JSA i've never declared that i made money from YouTube.

I guess the reason for this was because i never really saw it as a job or as a form of income, i mean without going into contract details, i don't make much a month, just enough to buy the equivalent of one XBox game every month (if that). But yesterday I talked with a advisor about setting up my own animation/games company and I got to thinking about my YT Channel which started my worrying & wondering.

Ok so here it is, if i was to start my animation company i would be paying my own taxes and have to declare everything to do with the company, with me having a semi-high viewer ship on YT and decent subscriber base i would want to make that a main part of the business but with me not declaring any of it for the last year almost i'm not sure what to do or what will happen to me, i mean i don't even know if i've been paying taxes on my earnings at all through the UK or the US as i think SocialBlade is a US network.

And then even if i did declare it and nothing happened to me, lets say the company doesn't work out and i'm forced to go back on JSA for a sort time before getting what my folks would call a "real job" would i need to stop my channel when the business stops or would I be ok to continue making video and earning revenue?

There are so many things that i'm worried about, i mean like i say i never saw this as a job or a form of income, it was back at insomnia when i had fans coming up to me asking for autographs and photos that it kinda become real to me.

Anyway, if anyone can shed some light on this for me please do so, and i hope that its ok i created a second account, i know its probably not but i couldn't see any alternative, i hope you can understand.

Regards
AnonymousPostings
 
Im pretty sure you should have been declaring it. Any source of earnings or incomes not declared breach the contracts on both JSA and ESA and can actually be counted as benefit fraud. Seeing as you mention its been happening for about a year i would personally not mention it at all because im pretty sure you could get into some serious trouble for committing benefit fraud for a whole year.
 
Youre fine for this purpose on this occasion :) You are required to register as self employed within a month or so of trading for example when you start making money so if its been going on for a year at 50 a month it would be within your personal allowance so you wouldnt have paid tax on it with claiming jsa but the jobcentre would have deducted the amount from your jsa as you would have had to report earnings to them. Your best bet would have been to put the earnings on hold in adsense or withhold the payment and that way you wouldnt have earned anything. Good luck sorting it out :)
 
If you're on JSA and want to start your own business, you may well qualify for what's called the New Enterprise Allowance. This is a similar amount to JSA, but you're allowed to earn profit from your business on top of it and still get paid. Only your JSA advisor can refer you onto the program though, so ask them about it next time you have a meeting.

The only relevant restrictions are that you are not allowed to earn money from trading (e.g. adsense) until you are accepted on the program - but this isn't necessarily a problem for you. Just put a hold on your adsense from the time you apply to the time you get accepted and it will be all above board.
 
Thank you all for the advice so far :)

TheBatteryChicken said:
Im pretty sure you should have been declaring it. Any source of earnings or incomes not declared breach the contracts on both JSA and ESA and can actually be counted as benefit fraud. Seeing as you mention its been happening for about a year i would personally not mention it at all because im pretty sure you could get into some serious trouble for committing benefit fraud for a whole year.
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Yeah thats kinda my main worry, i mean i've not been making much from it but as you say it is breaking terms of JSA and ESA, maybe citizens advice will be able to shed some light onto the repecutions of this for me, i don't know if its anonymous or not through them, don't want it coming back at me, not until i have all the information.

Michael said:
Youre fine for this purpose on this occasion :) You are required to register as self employed within a month or so of trading for example when you start making money so if its been going on for a year at 50 a month it would be within your personal allowance so you wouldnt have paid tax on it with claiming jsa but the jobcentre would have deducted the amount from your jsa as you would have had to report earnings to them. Your best bet would have been to put the earnings on hold in adsense or withhold the payment and that way you wouldnt have earned anything. Good luck sorting it out :)
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Thanks for understanding Michael about the second account, as i say a section on the site for anonymous help might be worth looking into.
Anyway, yeah kinda wish i had done that now....i mean the money had been a massive help to me with paying for bills (was only using games as a way of saying how much i made without saying it), and buying a little extra food here and there as JSA and ESA never covered it sadly and a person can only live on 15p Asda noodels for so long lol
Any idea what my best bet would be to do now that its been over the month allowance to declare it?

Richnode said:
If you're on JSA and want to start your own business, you may well qualify for what's called the New Enterprise Allowance. This is a similar amount to JSA, but you're allowed to earn profit from your business on top of it and still get paid. Only your JSA advisor can refer you onto the program though, so ask them about it next time you have a meeting.

The only relevant restrictions are that you are not allowed to earn money from trading (e.g. adsense) until you are accepted on the program - but this isn't necessarily a problem for you. Just put a hold on your adsense from the time you apply to the time you get accepted and it will be all above board.
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Thats actually the person i was talking to, loverly woman from Enterprise Revolutions....she said i could go on the NEA scheme to start the business and apply for a loan for start-up costs. So all being well with this thats what i'm planning on doing.
As for putting a hold on the payments, how sure are you that that will work? Wouldn't it still come back to me that i'd been earning from back in January till now?
 
I would try the citizens advice bureau, legally you should have sorted it out right away so there is a chance of them taking you to court etc to get the amount back from you which would be considered overpayment of benefits I believe and possibly fraud. I cannot really advise you further. You could try a forum like the consumer action group they have a lot of people who work with taxes and money on there.

If your payments get put on hold via Adsense from today you wont receive the money, it is only counted as earnings when you gain access to the money for example when it enters your bank or PayPal account. You could accrue £100000 in your Adsense earnings with it on hold but as soon as the money becomes accessible to you it will become taxable etc

Good luck with sorting out your business :)
 
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