Post
by katwmn6 » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:48 am
Hi all,
After reading several of the self-employment (SE) threads on here I am considering giving up my business, as providing SE evidence seems too complicated for my situation. I am due to apply for Tier 1 (General) extension in March 2012 and am currently registered with HMRC as a sole-trader. I'd really appreciate any final advice before I give up all hope.
Details: I work as a private tutor, recruiting clients both independently and through tutoring agencies. Some of the agencies require me to take payment in cash from clients (for convenience of the client), which I then deposit into my personal account. From this same account I then give money (commission) back to the agencies each month, either as a cheque or bank transfer. Collecting invoices from all of my clients each time I have a tuition would results in hundreds and hundreds of individual invoices (I often only have clients for 2-3 sessions, so a monthly total invoice wouldn't work in most cases). Thus supplying invoices that corroborate my cash deposits doesn't seem feasible (see point 142 in the guidance "An applicant must provide full contact details for each source of income"). I've read in other threads here that payments in cash would be heavily scrutinized by UKBA - it would be nearly impossible to provide contact details for all of the clients (which will number in the hundreds by the end of the year) for the HO to verify, not to mention that by 2012 I expect several/most of the clients to have forgotten details of the tuition I provided (dates, hours, payment, etc).
I don't know what to do. Should I get a business account and hire an accountant? Would this in any way fix the above problem? The guidance suggests even if I don't use a bank statement/accountant letter combo (point 139 section x), I will still need to provide contact details for all sources of income (point 142).
I know there are dozens of SE threads on here, so apologies in advance for adding another. I've spent the last several days pouring over the SE threads though and I haven't yet found a solution.
Thanks for your help everyone. Would go a long way in helping me decide what to do.