I work (sort of) 3 hours a week?

Question

For my friend who has her own business, just typing up stuff for her, she gives me 80 pounds a month cash.
Is it worth my telling the inland revenue about this and getting it all set up officially which would be a whole lot of hassle and might cause my friend extra costs, or could I just keep it as it is?

80 pounds a month!!! a month, not every week! Thats 6 pounds an hour, not 27!!!
Jeez if i earned that much I would definitely tell the tax people `

Answer 1

legally speaking you should declare any income for tax purposes to hm revenues & custom, and there could be huge implications (for you, not your friend) if you don't.
if you do the work on a freelance basis then your friend will not have any extra cost or 'hassle'. all YOU will have to do is fill in a simple tax return each year to delare how much you earned.
and as your earnings at £80 a month are well below the threshold you will not be required to pay any tax on the money anyway, and will get an exemption from paying national Insurance contributions. so you have nothing at all to lose!

Answer 2

OK, so you earn £80 a month tax free, and presumably leech off a partner or the government the rest of the time. Tax dodgers cost the country millions a year. I'd like an £80 a month tax rebate, but guess what??? I'm busy paying for other people's kids to go to school and for other people's streets to be policed. Unlike you, who thinks that you should contribute nothing!
Inform the inland revenue and contribute something to the society you live in instead of leaving others to pay for the services that you no doubt make use of.

Answer 3

You could end up in big trouble, especially is you're claiming benefits. If you're doing this on top of a job where you pay tax then you should claim it as additional income.

There's no need for the friend to employ you so she shouldn't pay anything above the £80 - she's merely engaging your services as a Sole Trader.

But she should still put the money through her books.

Be careful if you've been doing this for a while, it doesn't take long for a big tax bill to mount up.

Answer 4

You can earn up to £96 a week without paying any tax on it, so theres no point mentioning it. However....I'd question whether your friend is just trying to give u money for the sake of it, cos noone in their right mind pays a typist £20 an hour lol

Answer 5

I am with THE BULB on this one. 3 hours a week and £80 in cash and therefore untaxed doesnt sound a bad deal when I am sure it is topped up by the money taxed from my 42 hour week in benefits.

Answer 6

Just keep quiet! It's cash anyway, so it's not like there's a paystub to go along with your payment.
Just make sure your friend isn't going to report it to the revenue agency, which I'm sure she won't-- but mention it anyway.

Answer 7

Lucky you.!!!
Is there not a limit in England that you must earn per year before you must declare income???
In South Africa it works like that,only after a certain amount do you have to declare monies earned.!!!

Answer 8

Youd be better to because if they find out you will have to pay your benefits back (assuming you get any) and you could, at worst, end up in jail for fraud.
They take that kind of thing quite seriously.

Answer 9

Well, THE BULB, get down off your soapbox! If someone offered you eighty quid, no strings attached, you would take it! Nobody is that honest. Besides, the government just wastes our taxes on the arts and museums and stupid projects that don't work or matter.

Answer 10

Keep it as it is say you do it as a favour if anyone asks and don't mention the money it's not like it's enough to be taxable anyway