Totally confused re. tax/house rental/self employment/JSA

B

betaboy

Guest
Hi everyone. This is my first post. Please be gentle! Apologies if you feel I've posted in the wrong category.
I'd like some advice on my finances if anyone out there can help.
I left my previous job in October 2006 after a long period of work related stress & depression. I was determined that there was more to life than what I'd been subjecting myself to.
Around that time I'd just bought a new home. It needed some repairs.
I decided to leave my job and give myself some time out. In the meantime I'd saved enough to cover some repairs and a limited number of mortgage payments, so I spent a few months doing the house up.
My plan is to become self employed. I've always yearned to work for myself. I started looking for freelance work but in my field there is little without needing to expand my qualifications(see below). Finances started shrinking. I decided to sell the house and move back in with the family for a while.
I had three sales fall through and as money was becoming tighter and mortgage payments kept getting bigger, I had no option but to sign on until the house sells. Every day I look for work.
I recently agreed a sale on the house but with the current mortgage situation the buyer had his original offered recalled. He can't afford to buy right now so I've decided to rent it out to him until he gets the mortgage he needs to buy.
Can someone tell me how this all affects me tax-wise? Both as a temporary landlord and when I come to sell my home?
My earnings from April 06 - October 06 before tax were around £18k. Since then I have not earned a penny. The only source of income has been 13 weeks of JSA.
I am desperate to go into business as soon as I can sell my home, enabling me to get some money behind me. I also need to take a part time college/uni course to boost my self employment credentials. This would need to be a privately funded course.

I looked into working tax credits regarding self employment but am I right in thinking that because of my earnings in the April 06-April07 tax year I wouldn't be eligible until the end of this tax year? Thank you for any guidance you can offer!
 
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Are you Irish or UK based? I only ask because you mentioned Working Tax Credits, and the April 06-07 tax year (Ireland uses a calendar tax year).

Be aware that this site is Irish-based and gives information based on Irish taxation & welfare situations.
 
Last edited by betaboy : Today at 12:48 PM. Reason: The Font Police
I didn't tell you that you had to change it - I just pointed it out because some people (including myself) would not bother reading something that was originally so hard on the eyes.
 
It's not just the font. Your OP is poorly written, it's all over the place. How can people help you when you can't even organise your own thoughts?
 
While I sympathise with the OP in his difficullties and font aside, it has been mentioned already the OP does not appear to be in Republic of Ireland so any advice given here would be likely to be irrelevant. Betaboy, you might consider contacting a financial advice agency, we have one in RoI called MABS, perhaps theres an equivalent in your jurisdiction which may be able to help. In considering rents etc, a local accountant or tax advisor would deal with a lot of your questions more quickly and specifically to your situation.
 
regardless of the font and the location of the OP, letting the house out to the person who put an offer in is risky. The reality of the current financial situation is that interest rates are not going to drop in the foreseeable future so unless this person is coming into money or has a big pay rise coming, they are unlikely to be able to get a mortgage
secondly you now have a sitting tennant and if you are certain you want to sell, who will want to buy a house with a sitting tennant unless it is as an investement property. the tennant may not make any effort to present the house in a neat and tidy manner and you can't tellhim to get out of the house when a viewing is on.
A tennant won't keep the house in the same condition as you will

Why do you need a uni course to boost your self employment creditionals, it's be years before you qualify yet you will have set up and ran your business in the meantime, and if you need the qualification to do what you want to do in the first place, then when will you be able to start up

You're all over the place, my advice, get a job, don't rent the house to the prospective buyer, get the house sold if that is what you really want to do(even if it means dropping the price) and above all,sit down and do soem serious financial thinking, especially around your business needs