Tier 1 General Extension - Self Employed Earnings

[madison81]

Hello,
Went for my PEO application at liverpool (for my 2nd Tier 1 extension) on Saturday. I am short of earnings hence showed additional self employed earnings. I submitted the following:
- Business Bank Account Statements
- Letter from Accountant showing Gross and Net Income
- Invoices stamped and signed by the accountant
- Latest Class 2 National Insurance Bill (issued in March 2013)
- Welcome letter from HMRC showing my UTR number

I used the same business name and hmrc records that i used in my initial tier 1 application in april 2011. The only issue was that I didn't pay my Class 2 national insurance and hence the latest bill issued in March 2013 showed my outstanding bill amounts that was dated since august 2010. HMRC clearly stated in the bill that the due date is 31st july 2013.
the caseworker picked up on this and queried that whether I had any tax returns submitted. I said Yes I have submitted my tax returns but I dont have the documents for the tax. She said that you need to provide the evidence that you are paying class 2 national insurance. she said based on the documents i have given, she will have to refuse the application. She gave me an option to withdraw the application before she refuses it in order to keep my immigration history clean. I decided to go for it and withdrew my application.
My visa expires on 14th July 2013
My current self employment earnings period is 31st Jan 2013 to 30th April 2013. In order to show that i was paying class 2 National insurance, i will have to pay the bill now and then show more income in my bank account and then claim for the extended period. My question is that if i want to exclude the self employment earnings for feb and only claim from march to july (which is sufficient to claim the points), can i do that?
A point to be noted here that even though I withdrew the application they took a photocopy of my application form and all my documents. If i put a fresh application, will they refer to my withdrawn application? will it have any relation to my new application?

Another questions is, Can I change my accountant?
I am a registered sole trader, do i need to provide profit & loss account and balance sheet? i thought that only a letter from the accountant, invoice summary and copy of stamped invoices is enough for sole trader?

can i pay the class 2 national insurance in a post office? will it be enough as a proof of payment?? is there another way i can prove that I have now paid my national insurance???
i am confused, please someone adivse me urgently ..the clock is ticking !!

[mulderpf]

Yes, you can claim self-employment income for shorter period, but all your documentation should reflect that, the last thing you want to do is to confuse the caseworker. Not sure why you would want to do that though, because your due NI is for a six month period.

Your withdrawn application will be kept and could be referred back to if required. This can be used for evidence if you decide to change some facts (which if you are not changing anything, I wouldn't worry).

You can change your accountant, just make sure your new accountant has enough time to draft the documents and don't "change" the facts.

You can pay at the Post Office - they should give you a receipt for the payment.

[madison81]

Thanks for the reply.

I agree, I will/should not change the facts.
I have shown my earnings from 31st Jan to 30th April and now because I paid my National Insurance at the post office today morning and got the receipt, I need to show another entry in my bank account as Income to confirm that I was paying NI "during" my self employment earnings period which was used to claim the points. I will get the bank statement stamped from the bank and take it to my new accountant whom I am meeting today evening and hopefully he agrees to do my documents in good time.

One of my client whose Income I had shown in my 'withdrawn application' has left the country. Now if UKBA decide to contact him, they won't get a response and I will be risking more scrutiny from them and therefore I decided not to include those earnings. Can I do that? Can they question me saying that you intially included those earnings in your 'withdrawn' application and now you are not?? My total self employed earnings are not affected by excluding those 'out of country' client payments.

Can you please adivse what is the best thing to do ?

[dil_lips18]

Hi Madison,
I am a newbie to this forum. My visa got approved last week for another 3 years. Dont worry about the contacts that dont live in UK any more. I have never provided any contact details of my clients.

[mycanal1]

Thanks for the reply.

I agree, I will/should not change the facts.
I have shown my earnings from 31st Jan to 30th April and now because I paid my National Insurance at the post office today morning and got the receipt, I need to show another entry in my bank account as Income to confirm that I was paying NI "during" my self employment earnings period which was used to claim the points. I will get the bank statement stamped from the bank and take it to my new accountant whom I am meeting today evening and hopefully he agrees to do my documents in good time.

One of my client whose Income I had shown in my 'withdrawn application' has left the country. Now if UKBA decide to contact him, they won't get a response and I will be risking more scrutiny from them and therefore I decided not to include those earnings. Can I do that? Can they question me saying that you intially included those earnings in your 'withdrawn' application and now you are not?? My total self employed earnings are not affected by excluding those 'out of country' client payments.

Can you please advise what is the best thing to do ?

Do not change anything..it will cause doubts, and more inquiry and maybe refusal....

[snowball001]

Thanks for the reply.

I agree, I will/should not change the facts.
I have shown my earnings from 31st Jan to 30th April and now because I paid my National Insurance at the post office today morning and got the receipt, I need to show another entry in my bank account as Income to confirm that I was paying NI "during" my self employment earnings period which was used to claim the points. I will get the bank statement stamped from the bank and take it to my new accountant whom I am meeting today evening and hopefully he agrees to do my documents in good time.

One of my client whose Income I had shown in my 'withdrawn application' has left the country. Now if UKBA decide to contact him, they won't get a response and I will be risking more scrutiny from them and therefore I decided not to include those earnings. Can I do that? Can they question me saying that you intially included those earnings in your 'withdrawn' application and now you are not?? My total self employed earnings are not affected by excluding those 'out of country' client payments.

Can you please adivse what is the best thing to do ?

Hello how did you deal with it eventually?
Your self-employed period is not necessarily defined by the first and last date you get paid! No, no way. You just choose a period and show the income you made / tax and NI you paid during it.