Benefit claims for self-employed people and joint business partners
If you are self-employed and wish to claim Housing Benefit, we will need check whether your income is low enough for you to qualify.
We do this by looking at your total net weekly income from your self-employed earnings, along with any other income or capital you may have.
Self-employed income
Your net profit is calculated as follows:
From your pre-tax profit (you gross income minus any allowable expenses) we deduct the amount you would expect to pay in tax and National Insurance, and half of any pension contributions.
This may not be the same as the figure from HM Revenue and Customs.
Joint business partners (including couples)
Your net profit is calculated as follows:
We split your pre-tax profit (you gross income minus any allowable expenses) to reflect your shares in the business, with tax, national insurance and half of any pension payments deducted from those shares.
Allowable business expenses
Expenses wholly and exclusively incurred in relation to the business are disregarded, the same test used by HM Revenues and Customs. However, there are certain expenses HM Revenues and Customs allow that we cannot, such as:
- depreciation
- capital expenditure
- business entertainment.
People trading as child-minders
If you are trading as a self-employed child-minder we do not deduct business expenses.
We calculate your net profit by deducting tax, national insurance contributions and half of any pension contributions, from one third of your gross income.
Information you will have to provide
You will need to provide prepared accounts, or a spreadsheet, clearly showing your income and expenditure.
If you do not have this available please complete and return a self-employed income form.
You may also need to provide supporting documents, such as receipts, to confirm the figures you have provided.
If you have only just started your business, you will need to estimate your initial income and expenditure figures.
If we use an estimated figure to assess your claim you will need to provide the actual income and expenditure figures as soon as they are available.
