11 replies to this topic

[ukallstars]

Hi sorry f this has been covered before but i could not find it in a search

i want my wife to live with me in the uk and wish to apply for a settlement visa i tick all the boxes as the sponsor apart from one apparently.

i am a self employed photographer and during the last tax year 0f 2011-12 i earned £35.160 after all expenses where taken out i was left with a net profit of £22,549, well above the £18,600 but on my SA302 which lists my taxable earnings i only earn £17,220 which is below the £18600 threshold

after contacting the tax office to ask why this was they told me that they give me X amount of allowances which lowers my taxable income, and this is to benefit me so i don't have to pay so much tax (thanks a lot......not) the rule state "see underlined"

19. When calculating income from self-employment under paragraphs 12A and 13(e) this paragraph applies:
(a) There must be evidence of ongoing self-employment at the date of application.
( Where the self-employed person is a sole trader or is in a partnership or franchise agreement, the income will be:
(i) the gross taxable profits from their share of the business; and
(ii) allowances or deductable expenses which are not taxed will not be counted towards income

i read this as meaning they will only consider the sum that is state on my SA302 which is my taxable income after all my deductions and allowances have been taken out  

My Question is ....am i correct in thinking this and if so is there anything that can be done about this considering my actual net earning are in fact £22.549

i feel that self employed people are being victimised because we can write of so much against our tax and then the tax office give us more tax brakes anyway. my argument is i am better off than someone who is earning 22.5k on paye because all my motoring expenses and phone internet etc are already taken care of and dont need to be payed for from the 22.5k ....does this make sense????

point is i earn 22.5k profit but i think the ukba will not accept this figure

my only alternative is to get my accountant to resubmit my accounts after removing the necessary expenses to bump up my so called earning so the taxable profit is above the 18,600 mark which will infect leave me poorer.... retarded or what?????

Any help or advise would be so appreciated right now

thanks

just one other point about how badly these rule have been thrown together, as part of the supporting evidence the UKBA ask for the following

Proof of registration with HMRC as self-employed. This evidence must be either an original or a certified copy of the registration documentation issued by HMRC.

I contacted HMRC and they told me that there is no such document and have written me a letter to confirm this.

[Victoria]

They mean your UTR.

I'd suggest speaking to an advisor about this. Regretfully it is likely that you will have to minimise your expenses in order to qualify.

Please don't use the word 'retarded'. It's deeply offensive.

[ukallstars]

sorry for the offence, was not my intent

problem solved by my accountant, something to do with my capital allowances on purchases i made though my business he changed it so i claim the allowance over 5 years and not 1 now my accounts above the 18600 limit

this info could be useful to someone else i hope

[Victoria]

Excellent.  A good accountant can be very useful in these applications - and if not, a good immigration advisor.

[HannahK]

Hey - just to let you know that I asked HMRC to send me proof that I was self-employed (even though I knew this document didn't actually exist) but they very kindly sent me a letter just stating that I have been self-employed for the last 3 years. I explained what it was for and they obliged.
But yes, the application form is written very ambiguously, to invite error I imagine.

[manida]

Hi all
my husband was used good accountant and they refused
I agree with you ukallstars self employed are victims

[ukallstars]

why was your husband refused  manida did they say he did not meet the financial requirement? my wife and i have been waiting for a reply for our visa app for 6 weeks now. we hope to get an answer before Xmas but only if we are lucky. By the way anybody know how long the visa section in embassies shuts down for over the xmas period???

[manida]

you can refer to my topic and read replies

my question to you is the income received before tax taken off = net income ?

cos my husband self assessent tax calculation shown that income received before tax taken off = £12,167

but on statement of income and expenditure his income fares and tips received = more than £18.600

and net income = £12,167

[Gentleman of Leisure]

Read my posts #17, #21, #23, #54 in this thread for a greater understanding as to why revenue can be above the UKBA maintenance threshold, but taxable earnings can be lower.  

http://www.ukresiden...ntry-clearance/

[ukallstars]

Hi Manida

Ok the rule states that your husband must have a taxable income of £18.600, in other words he must be paying tax on that amount. i earn over £35,000 Gross  in a year but because of  claim for business expenses of about £13,000 my net profit is about £22,000 but because the tax office then give me a load of other tax brakes it meant i only paid tax on £17,300. so what i had to do is go to my account and ask him to re-gig my accounts so that i claimed for some of my expenses over 5 years instead of in just 1 year and resubmit my accounts. so now my taxable income goes up to over £18,600. i then asked the tax office to send me a new SA302 tax statement with the updated taxable income over 18,600. which i submitted with the visa application as proof of income.

if you husband only earns £12,167net then your going to have a problem i'm sorry to say, as the amount he pay's tax on is lightly to be only about £5 or 6000 .

I'm lucky that i'm in a position to be able to re-gig my accounts as my income is high enough and i claim a lot of expenses so am able to do that.

i really  don't know what to suggest.  

the only thing i can think off is that if your husbands earnings are high enough with all his tips and fares etc that he not submit any expenses what so every and see if he can get his taxable income up high enough that way, im not sure but it maybe possible for him to still claim the expenses next year. his best bet is to talk to his accountant an explain the situation and see what he sagest's  .

i'm really sorry i cant be of more help.

your only other option would be for your husband to move to a european schengen visa zone and you apply for a schengen visa to join him stay for 6 months and then apply to come to the uk that way bypassing all the normal rules.

i'm by no means an expert on this and I'm sure there's a thousand hoops to jump though doing it that way, but there is a lot of information out there on the net and in forums explaining this procedure so if you have no hope of meeting the finical requirement then its definitely something to look in to, thats what i would do in your position unless there is someone more knowledgeable than me, which i know this site and many others do have, maybe one of them has a better idea.

good luck to you both i really hope you can find a solution to this problem