Hi,
I am new to this forum but seen some very good posts from other members. I look after my daughter who’s 6 year’s old. Due to financial circumstances I need to start a part time job as a care worker few weeks ago. My job hours varies in between 15 hr - 20 hr a week which means I can go over to the CA thresh hold limit on weekly basis as my employer paid me weekly.
In order to continue my job I need to complete care worker online courses assigned to me by my employer. I also needs to mark attendance in way of punching clock in an online app on mobile.
My question is can I buy a laptop for doing courses and mobile phone (with data) and pay monthly and can deduct them as expenses from my total income to remain under CA threshold limit (£123)?
Any advice from existing members will be highly appreciated.
Thanks.
Mmmm … expenses associated with work ?
Work-related costs and Carer's Allowance - Entitledto
From elsewhere on this site :
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If you are in employment and are paid monthly, your monthly earnings are normally multiplied by 12 months to get a yearly figure and then divided by 52 weeks to get a weekly figure.
If you are in employment and have fluctuating earnings it is possible for your earnings to be averaged out over a recognisable cycle of work or over five weeks.
If you are in self-employment your average weekly earnings are normally calculated by looking at a specific trading period, which is normally a year. However if you have only recently started your self-employment, or if there has been a change in your circumstances, then a different period more representative of your average weekly earnings can sometimes be used.
The following amounts are deducted from your gross weekly earnings (if you are in employment) or your net profit (if you are in self-employment) before your earnings are taken into account for Carer’s Allowance:
Income Tax
National Insurance
half of your contributions towards an occupational/personal pension
Example
If you earn £125 a week (after tax and national insurance) you will not be entitled to Carer’s Allowance. However, if you put £10 a week into a pension, half of the £10 can be deducted from your earnings. Your earnings for Carer’s Allowance would therefore be £125 - £5 = £120 a week. As this is not over the earnings limit, you could claim Carer’s Allowance.
You can also deduct expenses that are incurred ‘wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business’, in the same way that you can for income tax purposes.
If, because of your work, you have to pay for someone to look after the person you care for, or a child under 16 who you or your partner get Child Benefit for, you can deduct those payments from your earnings up to the value of half your earnings (after the above deductions if they apply). However, this will not apply if the person you are paying is a close relative of either yourself or the person you are looking after (a close relative is a spouse, partner or civil partner, parent, son, daughter, brother or sister).
Occupational or personal pensions do not count as earnings and you can be paid Carer’s Allowance in addition to these. However, if you get extra Carer’s Allowance for your partner their occupational/personal pension could affect this extra amount (some carers previously received extra benefit for their partner as part of their Carer’s Allowance - this was called the adult dependant addition but is not available for new claims).
If you do receive taxable income such as occupational or personal pensions or part-time earnings you should inform the tax office about your Carer’s Allowance, because it is a taxable benefit.
One exception to the earnings rule is that if you are working during an allowed break in care, and are still receiving Carer’s Allowance, your earnings are ignored (you can see more information on breaks in care here).
I would contact the Carers Unit ( DWP arm ) direct with said question for a definitive answer … after all , they are judge :
Contact the Carer's Allowance Unit - GOV.UK