Jobseekers benefit and part-time work/self-employed work

piamhy

Hi,
I am running a summercamp with my friend in july for 3 weeks. We have not gotten the numbers we though we would and so far we predict a profit of e500 each. My question is

For taxation and jobseekers purposes would i be better
a - applying for back to work enterprise allowance as i am currently on jobseekers benefit.

or

b- informing SW that I will be working 2/3 days a week (we're gonna divide the weeks between us) and getting a reduced payment then filling out a form 11e in october?


problem with option a is i will have to register as self-employed (is this complicated?) and also the camp will start on the 6th of july and i havent even applied for this. i'm bit un-organised.

if i was to go with plan b is i wouldn't be employed as such by anyone because we are running it ourselves so when i had to hand in a letter from employer who would it come from?

would i just be better off not running this camp at all and just leaving it to my friend as the jobseekers benefit would be more income.

any advice much appreciated.

cee_jay

If you register as self employed, I think you cannot claim Jobseeker's Benefit, only Jobseeker's Allowance. Your earnings from this employment will be taken into account as means. As everyone is saying on this forum, you could be waiting weeks for the means test.

Perhaps you should look into the Short Term Enterprise Allowance.

The Short-term Enterprise Allowance is a new Back to Work Scheme. There is no qualifying period. You can get immediate access to the allowance but you must meet the qualifying conditions.

To qualify you must have:

An entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit
And

Either 104 contributions paid in the past 2 years or qualify for statutory redundancy.
The Short-term Enterprise Allowance will be paid to you for a maximum of 1 year. It will end when your entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit ends (that is, at either 9 months or 12 months).
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/JobseekerSupports/BackToWork/EnterpriseAllowance/Pages/ea.aspx

Go to your local office and discuss your options with them.

piamhy

Hi thanks very much for your reply.

I'm heading into my SW tomorrow.

If I fill out a for 11e does that mean Im self employed? I thought this was just extra income allowance form?

If I go for the short term enterprise allowance does that not mean I'm self employed anyway?

piamhy

Just thinking, would my friend be better off registering as self-employed and paying me to work the half weeks (2/3 days?) or would that have worse implications for her when she paid tax?

Xiney

Your friend, in order to employ you, would have to comply with a boat load of laws, PAYE, PRSI... in short, it would be a real pain for just one employee for three weeks. And it would probably end up costing you guys more money than those three weeks' worth of dole would be worth (accountants, solicitors etc.)

cee_jay

piamhy wrote: »

Hi thanks very much for your reply.

I'm heading into my SW tomorrow.


If I go for the short term enterprise allowance does that not mean I'm self employed anyway?

Yes but it means you can keep your Jobseeker's benefit while being self employed. i think the scheme is meant for longer period than 3 weeks though.