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Child Item

Self employed could get welfare safety net - finally!

Kermit.de.frog

I often wondered why those who take the ultimate risk of setting up a business were penalised in the form of no welfare safety net whilst there are people in this country who go on the dole at 18 never having worked a day in their lives with no intention of working and are content to stay there as a life style choice. I think this is LONG overdue.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/fg-plans-to-give-the-selfemployed-same-dole-as-paye-staff-31095630.html

Hopefully if it comes about this encourages more people to to set up their own business in the knowledge they have something to fall back on other than destitution.

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OldNotWIse

Carawaystick wrote: »

There's jobseekers allowance, meanstested and jobseekers benefit, an insurance payout if you've paid enough prsi contributions.

There's disability allowance, and disability benefit...
etc.

Jobseekers benefit? Are you sure?

wandatowell

Well played. Nice little election soundbite.

Buying votes.

Uncle Ben

wandatowell wrote: »

Well played. Nice little election soundbite.

Buying votes.

Filed away with free childcare for under 6s and keeping Roscommon Hospital open.

doc11

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Filed away with free childcare for under 6s and keeping Roscommon Hospital open.

Free gp care for over 70.

Funny how all these proposals will favor the better off too.

Uncle Ben

doc11 wrote: »

Free gp care for over 70.

Funny how all these proposals will favor the better off too.

Hahaha forgot about that.

Macy0161

OldNotWIse wrote: »

What do you mean by "the allowances"? As far as I can make out, the class of PRSI they paid exempted them from many.

"Benefits" are generally based on PRSI contributions (and are normally for a limited time). "Allowances" are open to all, but are means tested.

If you don't pay a full stamp, you are currently entitled to apply for an allowance, and then it will be up to the means test whether you get it.

If you're paying a full stamp, and meet the minimum number of contributions, you qualify for Job Seekers Benefit automatically (assuming you're seeking work and the other conditions), for 9 months. After the 9 months, you move on to Job Seekers Allowance, which is then means tested.

OldNotWIse

Macy0161 wrote: »

"Benefits" are generally based on PRSI contributions (and are normally for a limited time). "Allowances" are open to all, but are means tested.

If you don't pay a full stamp, you are currently entitled to apply for an allowance, and then it will be up to the means test whether you get it.

If you're paying a full stamp, and meet the minimum number of contributions, you qualify for Job Seekers Benefit automatically (assuming you're seeking work and the other conditions), for 9 months. After the 9 months, you move on to Job Seekers Allowance, which is then means tested.

By full stamp, are you referring to a particular class of PRSI?

I found this:

To qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit, you must pay Class A, H or P PRSI contributions. Class A is the one paid by most private sector employees. Class H is paid by soldiers, reservists and temporary army nurses, who do not qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit until they have left the army.

On the Citizens information website

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/jobseekers_benefit.html

LadyAthame

Carawaystick wrote: »

There's jobseekers allowance, meanstested and jobseekers benefit, an insurance payout if you've paid enough prsi contributions.

There's disability allowance, and disability benefit...
etc.

Self-employed people pay Class S PRSI. Class S PRSI only covers you for certain social welfare payments. It does not cover you for Jobseeker’s Benefit.
You get means tests benefits ...only you don't.. you cant be means tested until you recieve your Tax assessment form (P60) .... Up to 1year later ..Self-employed with a certain amount in savings will not qualify for JSA. An employed person with exactly the same amount of savings will qualify for JSB. So you will only qualify one year later after you have no savings. Who knows when your stamps will be eligible.

QUOTE
'an insurance payout if you've paid enough prsi contributions.'

They work year to year. So if you are paying for years but just into 2015 it's complicated.
Some self employed can be earning less than the dole for weeks on end and still keep going. I think it's a fair idea to have something for if the bottom falls out.

You can hand over a myriad of tax certs ...bank account statements the lot ...you most likely will not be entitled to a cent.

The weirdest thing is ....if you are self employed and then work dries up you could be entitled to nothing but go to Austrailia for 12 months then come back and you can claim the dole. Go figure.

In quite a few jobs, people working as such cannot incorporate themselves; lawyers, for example. The best you can do there is a partnership (and barristers can't even do that). The idea is that the person in question doesn't get limited liability. You can't pay yourself as an employee no matter how well you are doing. It's too awkward.

On the upper super rich end of the scale Self employed and owner/directors while paying less PRSI do pay more income tax than normal employees on the same salaries as we are not entitled to the PAYE tax credit, even though most owner/directors will pay their tax through the PAYE system. It's unlikely they would ever need the dole but there you go anyway.

The PRSI contribution is still used for the welfare payments of others. The PRSI level was changed in 2011 but there was no change in entitlements.

If you have employees it would be even more Ironic in a way....A self employed person with employees pays 10.75% PRSI on top of what he pays his employees. This is what funds the employees entitlements. Yet he himself gets nothing if his business folds. Is that REALLY fair?