Considering giving up self-employment (Tier 1 General)

[katwmn6]

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.

[Celtic]

Sorry to be blunt but chances of your application to be rejected will be very high. Since you are depositing cash into bank account yourself, bank statements wouldn't count as a proof and letter from accountant alone wouldn't be enough.

Ps, your supposed to raise an invoice for almost any kind of work and if home office can't verify even one of those invoices or there is mismatch even by a penny, those earnings will not be considered.

[katwmn6]

Thanks for your reply Celtic. By all means, please be blunt - I need to make a decision very soon about what I am going to do, and I need as much information as I can get.

If I were able to get bank transfers from clients as payment instead of cash, would that be suitable if they were matched with invoices? Or would that still present a problem if clients are unable to verify the payment if the HO checks on it? (Again, the issue is there will be dozens and dozens of clients over a 12 mo period, most of whom will not remember details of their payments to me.)

Again, any advice would be hugely helpful - I need to make a decision ASAP as to whether to continue with SE. If anyone has any info/personal experience with a similar situation please advise.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

[Celtic]

Well bank transfer instead of cash is much better. Two sources for earnings are must.

I am in full employment and also self employed. I got my tier 1 general last month. I had submitted bank statements and accountant letter. Obviously I submitted all the invoices as well. However HO didn't contact any of my clients as my bank statements clearly showed the money deposited by those companies.

In your case, cash should be avoided at all costs. Make sure your clients wire money into your account. Then raise an invoice as well.

But still due to the nature of your work, its pretty much at the discretion of casewoker. He or she can choose to ignore any earnings that can't be verified for whatever reasons.

It may be better if you get in touch with an oisc registered lawyer and use thier professional advise and for representation of your application. Because in case of rejection, they normally file an appeal for no additional charges.

[katwmn6]

Thanks again for your advice Celtic; it's really appreciated.

Does anyone else know/have experience with the HO verifying self-employment income?

[katwmn6]

Just wanted to check if anyone else had any thoughts on this - have decided to stop self-employment until my visa is renewed (and instead get a salaried job), for fear that HO won't be able to verify SE income. Want to make certain this is the best choice though..