Unemployed for 20 months

1Marlo1

I am unemployed for the last 20 months and never signed on or claimed any benefit. I have lived in Dublin and spent some time in London aswell, I supported myself by playing online poker. I have worked since leaving school until the end of my last employment.
I signed on and provided all info and docs 2 weeks ago. After no response I rang them today and was told my claim is under review for habitual residency and that because I was out of work for the last 20 months and never claimed it was a bit suspect.
I am now under pressure financially and have started looking for a job, hoping to claim till I find work.
Has anyone had any similar experience or any info to help me.
Also Im Irish and its JSA Im seeking after missing JSB by a couple of weeks.

Cheers

shoegirl

You might be in a bit of a quandry there as I am not sure if income from online poker is regarded as taxable income. I would assume that it is not, though I could be wrong.

A friend went through a bit of grief some years back after submitting some exceptionally low earnings to revenue while attempting to make a career as a pro golfer. They found it hard to believe that she was able to live on such low earnings. If you lived with family you can probably make a case that they helped you out, if not might be more difficult. You need to find out basically if your winnings from poker are taxable or not, if so, you should be ok but you would have to produce income statements if you are looking for means tested JSA.

The moral of the story is to sign on ASAP, as soon as you have a P45 at least!

Delancey

The key to your problem is in your post. You've been living completely ' under the radar ' for 20 months in that you have neither claimed any benefits and neither ( I presume ) have you paid any tax/PRSI .
This is bound to create a lot of suspicion about you and I would guess that there may be a suspicion that you have not in fact been living here and thus the reference to checking if you meet the Habitual Residence condition.
Are you in a position to supply proof that you have lived here ?

To my knowledge if online gambling was your principal source of income ( ie your occupation ) then you are liable to pay tax. Perhaps the tax forum could clarify.

1Marlo1

Delancey wrote: »

The key to your problem is in your post. You've been living completely ' under the radar ' for 20 months in that you have neither claimed any benefits and neither ( I presume ) have you paid any tax/PRSI .
This is bound to create a lot of suspicion about you and I would guess that there may be a suspicion that you have not in fact been living here and thus the reference to checking if you meet the Habitual Residence condition.
Are you in a position to supply proof that you have lived here ?

Poker is def taxfree so I never paid any tax/PRSI.
I didnt sign on bacuase I thought it was unethical and also I was travelling alot so on occasion would have missed post office payments.
If I wasnt living in Ireland, would this be aproblem for my claim now as I am an Irish citzen?

1Marlo1

Can somone explain please?
If MrA loses his job in April, doesnt sign on til December, do the Welfare department have a problem with this???..if so I cant see why.

Delancey

1Marlo1 wrote: »

Can somone explain please?
If MrA loses his job in April, doesnt sign on til December, do the Welfare department have a problem with this???..if so I cant see why.

Per se ther is nothing wrong in the above situation however imagine you are a Deciding Officer looking at a claim in these circumstances - this person has not claimed so that begs the question '' how has this person been able to maintain themselves ? '' . There are 2 possible answers to this question ; one is that they have been living and working abroad and the second is that they have been living here and working without declaring their income for tax purposes.

I am no tax expert but I do not share your confidence in your belief that your gambling income is tax free . Incidental or one-off winnings are one thing but income from what was by your own admission your ' occupation ' is another matter entirely.

1Marlo1

Googled it and found this
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055534629

Delancey

Had a quick skim through that thread from the Gambling forum and though the consensus was that your winnings were tax free I'm still not sure.
I reckon a question in the tax forum would be in order.