They take what you expect to earn in the coming year as a guide on how much TCs you should be getting then in April next year at renewal they ask you for the actual amount you earned and alter the payments accordingly, if your estimate is way out and they've paid too much to you then you will have to pay back what you owe them. It's very easy to contact them (unless it's at renewal time!) to inform them of changes in the number of hours you work and the income you are getting.

What about income support? You can get that if you work less than 16 hours.

Thanks Cat, I might just claim them for the moment, give me chance to get more savings put by and not renew next year. Had enough job searching to last me a life time.
How do they work out what tax credits your entitled to though as obviously you make different amounts ea ch week, dont fancy oweing them money

It's the whole year's income that you submit, and it should be the same as what you put on your self-assessment form for the taxman (each year). How they will work out your first one is what you tell them you *estimate* you will earn in the coming year, and you will be expected to submit the true figures NEXT year (in July).

They can do a "compliance check" at any time - I recently had one - where you have to submit almost everything including your dirty linen for them to scrutinise! ALL your bank accounts, passport, birth certificate, advertising, diary of appointments/work undertaken, expenses, EVERYTHING. But if you're above board, there's nothing to worry about

What about income support? You can get that if you work less than 16 hours.

I am surprised you suggest going on income support when earning what we do
as escorts.  Income support is a benefit for those below the minimum wage level
or not entitled to jobseekers allowance, it is not for those employed and specially
for those with an earning potential of several hundred pounds a week. 

Claiming income support means you get other benefits automatically such as rent and council
tax discounts and how is that fair to those of us who declare our earnings properly and accept
full responsibility for mortgage/rent/c tax etc. 

I think if asked questions about true earnings when applying for income support then
some stumbling blocks will be faced.

Income Support - for people who are not working and meet certain criteria OR for people who work less than 16 hours per week and also have a very low income (not sure exactly but think it's around ?100 or less). I doubt anyone escorting would meet the criteria.

Working Tax Credit - for people working 25 hrs a week + or single parents working 16 hours a week or more. Payments are means tested and tapered down dependent on what you earn. So someone earning NMW would probably get maximum payments and someone earning in excess of ?20,000 may get not very much at all, if any. If just starting a claim, you should give your estimated projected income for the year to start with or else you will be calculated on last years and will probably get a huge overpayment problem. If you say you are self employed they will prob ask for projected estimate.

and yes, as long as you are dedicating your given hours to your business on average each week, then you don't actually have to be shagging clients for those 32 hours  . Anything business-related counts.

Housing and Council Tax benefit - pretty much the same as above, means tested for those on low incomes (ie NMW or less).

Registering as self-employed is a must because the tax credits people will want your unique taxpayer reference number to process your claim. It's very simple, NI is due every 3 months and isn't very much and you don't need to worry about actually submitting a return or paying any tax due for a while yet (although it is good practice to start keeping records and saving a percentage for tax from the start)

x x x

Hi Amy your advice was great but would rather not go in to Jobcentre and say Im Escorting what am I entitled too. Thats why original point to the post was what job I could say I was doing.

You don't have to tell them, that's the point. Just tell them you are setting up your own part time business.

They'll probably ask what you're wanting to do in an informal way and you can tell them whatever you like - my point was that it is not information they require from you for anything official paperwork-wise, unlike the revenue (and even there it doesn't matter what you tell them provided you register and pay your whack, so the rest of the land don't have to pay it for you).

If you want to tell them you're making balloon animals they won't give a shit as long as they've got another one off their books.

NI is due every 3 months

...unless you apply for exception. If you're earning under a certain limit per year (check with tax office) you don't have to pay NI. Of course, this means that your NI may end up being underpaid by the time you retire, best to ask tax office or accountant.

They don't care. Tell them anything. Seriously, they don't care! You're just a statistic to them!

Quite! The only time "they" (using a general, scary-Government/HMRC-they there) will care is if they think you are not declaring your income correctly and are claiming the incorrect benefits. Then they may care enough to send you to prison, if you're unlucky.

Use every resource available (Jobcentre, benefits agency, DirectGov phone/website, Citizen's Advice Bureau) to make sure you're applying for the correct things and declaring the correct things. At no point is anyone going to go "oooo a prossie, look everyone! *point and stare*" so don't worry about that. And, as Amy said, you can just say you're starting a part-time at-home massage business OR life coaching OR reiki aromatherapy candle hot stones acupuncture combo therapies. (Whichever job title you choose, just remember what it is so you don't feel a wally if you have to chat to all these people again a year later. I once forgot what my job title was for something and had to ask my accountant. Doh.) Whatever you choose, it won't even provoke a raised eyebrow. They'll just want to help you fill out the right forms as quickly as possible so that the right things get paid to the right people and nobody has to go to prison and everyone can go home and have a cup of tea.