# ex- self employed



## triciamonty (9 Apr 2009)

are there any ex-self employed people receiving any sort of assisstance from welfare.have been talking to some of the people i used to work with,some married,some single and all are still waiting on claims to be assessed [after16 weeks],some are appealing the stupid decisions made at the welfare.nothing coming from the c.w.o  either.what are we meant to live on?


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## Dazzles (9 Apr 2009)

Fresh air Trishamonty....did you not know that? When you decide to become self-employed and supply the government with the big spending opportunities from your taxes they repay you by giving you these magical powers to survive on fresh air....great isn't it? We are at our wits end! Went to the CWO yesterday and was told because of my wages my husband was not entitled to any assitance. I take home approx. E350 per week as I too have had my hours cut. That might be a lot for someone who is not paying a mortgage, loans, child maintenance etc. But we are and yesterday I wasn't able to pay for my groceries. The embarassment and looks of pity brought tears to my eyes. I have to play "chose a bill" every 2 weeks to try and keep on top of some of them. Its a bloody joke. Local SW office said because he was self employed its going to take longer or he might not be entitled to anything.....oh and again my earnings will be taken into account. Have spoken to and sought advise from so many people and online and have been told that he has to be entitled yet when you get to the SW office your told different. Anyone think of getting onto the papers about this? Its discrimination and needs to be highlighted. Either the system is wrong or those dealing with claims have not been informed about self employed and their entitlements. Think I'll go tie myself to a gate or whatever you do to get noticed in this country!


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## triciamonty (9 Apr 2009)

my wife takes home 350 p.w, was told 11 euros over threshold to get anything.thats after they wrote down my wife gross earnings as net profit,estimating my income for 2009 at 50000 even though i unregistered as self-employed in october 2008.just a few inaccuracies the means test officer wrote dowm for the deciding officer.when i pointed this out to the deciding officer she said APPEAL  claim.their fault and i have to wait again.ive spoken to many people and im told i should be entitled to something but like you sw office think different or are not capable of doing their jobs correctly.wonder how many others in the same boat.  ill post any news i get here


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## gearoid (10 Apr 2009)

The scandal is that you like me are paying Class-S PRSI for no insurance. I payed somewhere in the region of 4000 PRSI alone last year. If I am layed off I get nothing. What form of Insurance is that??

I've taken a 25% hit in salary recently and have been lucky relative to my peers. Meanwhile the self-employed are  paying the taxes of public sector workers who are still getting increments due to them based on benchmarking, despite the collapse of the private sector and an inflation rate of -2.5%.

The attitude from the government is screw the self-employed and cosy up to the unions.


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## Jack2008 (10 Apr 2009)

In the same boat myself, self employed and paid all my taxs for over 20years now I have no income and told take a running jump.
Thanks for all you contributed personally, thanks for employing people and paying their tax's also now F*** Off and live off your wifes take home pay of €411 per week! *
And by the way, start up another business and give us more but we won't help you in any way - just take more!!!!! SME's were the backbone of this country, whether they employed 1 or 2 or 20 people their contribution to society was/is enormous but never acknowledged or helped in any way by the powers that be!


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## donee (10 Apr 2009)

Jack2008 said:


> In the same boat myself, self employed and paid all my taxs for over 20years now I have no income and told take a running jump.
> Thanks for all you contributed personally, thanks for employing people and paying their tax's also now F*** Off and live off your wifes take home pay of €411 per week! *
> And by the way, start up another business and give us more but we won't help you in any way - just take more!!!!! SME's were the backbone of this country, whether they employed 1 or 2 or 20 people their contribution to society was/is enormous but never acknowledged or helped in any way by the powers that be!


 hear hear


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## triciamonty (10 Apr 2009)

would have been better off to sign on the dole after leaving school and worked for cash in hand for the past 20 year.would have been rolling in it.


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## D8Lady (10 Apr 2009)

+1


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## gearoid (10 Apr 2009)

I am a little calmer now after hearing about the increments! And my apologies for opening up the public sector v private sector issue again.

So PRSI ensures that you get a contributory pension. In my case I have 14 years of contributions from full-time employment, so I should already be entitled to the full pension.

The other aspect is that with Class S contributions you're only entitled to Jobseeker Allowance which is means-tested. I have always saved so I would not be eligible for this based on a means-test.

Based on this, I can not see how the PRSI Class S contributions are actually of use to me. They are just another income tax.

The Self-employed are a diverse group and not politically powerful. Thus the shoddy treatment compared to other sections of society.


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## bond-007 (10 Apr 2009)

> The Self-employed are a diverse group and not politically powerful. Thus the shoddy treatment compared to other sections of society.


Totally agreed. Self employed people are treated like pariahs by the social welfare system.


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## triciamonty (11 Apr 2009)

jaybird said:


> You would also be a SW cheat and a Revenue fraudster.


 would have fitted in well so


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## Dazzles (11 Apr 2009)

jaybird said:


> You would also be a SW cheat and a Revenue fraudster.


 
I would also now be able to afford to do my weekly shopping without having my card declined. That is what my husband gets after 10 years + of paying taxes, creating employment and paying his employees taxes. While I know people who never paid taxes (or never worked!) and worked cash-in-hand and are still working as they don't, and never had, the crippling overheads and taxes my husband had. I am sorry but can you tell me exactly what the benefits were of breaking our backs? We were never flush. We worked hard and survived. No big house, no new cars or overseas investments. Just our little home, a 10 year old car, a city break and a week in the sun once a year. But we were happy just surviving. 

And now......well now we can't afford to pay for the little house, fix poor auld betsy the car, pay bills, buy food.......will i continue? The most heartbreaking thing is we worked hard so that in the fututre we would be comfortable. We got married and decided to wait to have a family.....build up the business. Now the prospect of us starting a family is slipping further and further away. We simply couldn't afford a child now.

I would love to stand proud and say "Yes.....we did the right thing" but to be honest we feel like a pair of fools! Sorry for the rant but I am so, so angry.


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## triciamonty (11 Apr 2009)

wonder how many self employed are unemployed now,, a lot of votes,,,as the americans call it  a voting block.............any politicians reading this


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## johnno09 (13 Apr 2009)

Hi, sorry to hear of your troubles and frustrations. Just wanted to say that as regards self-employed v. public sector, it isnt as clear cut for everyone as one party still in employment versus one with no work or income. I am in the public sector while my father has been self-employed his whole life and absolutely screwed with tax bills and trying to make ends meet (during the so-called celtic tiger too), after 5 years post-college in the private sector I got a job in the public sector. At the moment I have taken a major pay cut and am also faced with paying all the debts of his business and keeping a household with 4 adults in it because none of the others can get any sort of income from any source at the moment. 

So I would happily join your attack on the powers that be. It suits them only too well to split a nation on public v. private sector pains and distract attention from the basic fact of peoples pure hardship and lives being ruined that was inflicted by no fault of our own. I dont belive that Brian Lenehan or Cowan gives a toss about whether people can afford to eat or not, they're wives cards arent being rejected at the supermarket till and their kids will get to go to college.


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## Dazzles (13 Apr 2009)

I too am public sector - the poor side of it though - so know exactly where you are coming from!  Not everyone in the public sector is sitting back and not feeling the pinch.  I have seen my hours cut, my pay cut and in the area I work in, due to the current situation, my job has become more difficult.  But I am glad to have job.  Its temp and unreliable though and don't know from one week to the next if I will still have a job.  But at moment its a job.  

But there is no doubt about it the public sector is admin heavy, many are over paid for what they do and there are/were too many perks.  For e.g. I went back to college to do a part time post grad.  I was not working in the public sector at the time. I paid all my own fees, worked up the time to attend college and used my holidays for study and exams.  While my fellow "public sector" classmates had their course paid for, got paid to attend college, got a certain amount of paid "study time" each week and also got paid study and exam leave.  We were all expected to get the same results!  

Meanwhile my husband was breaking his back to make a living and pay taxes, PAYE, PRSI etc to help finance these "perks".  And now what does he get.....A big, fat, nothing!  It is no wonder there are so many of those who were self employed in a dire situation at the moment.  While breaks and relief for this and that were being given out, those who were self employed and creating employment got no breaks.  The government just took, took, took!  I am not talking about the big guys here.....I am talking about your average tradesman with a few lads working for them.  People said for years that the trades were milking it but if you did it all above board the overheads were crippling and while you made a living it was just that a living, a survival.


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