HMRC has launched a new ‘Help for Hustles’ campaign this month
to help those earning extra income through side hustles to get their
tax right.What is a ‘side hustle’?A ‘side hustle’ describes ways of making extra income outside of someone’s day job. It can mean anything from dog walking to digital content creation and making things to sell online.
We want to help customers earning additional income through side hustles to understand the steps they may need to take to declare
their earnings, and to avoid any tax surprises.
We also want to reassure people selling unwanted personal
belongings from their wardrobe or garage that they usually
don’t have to worry about tax.
Anyone generating more than £1,000 in a tax year from their side
hustle should check their tax obligations using HMRC’s new easy
to use online guide, ‘Tax Help for Hustles’ on GOV.UK.
Unlocking Child Trust Funds
Young people aged 18 to 22 should check to see if they have
unclaimed savings in a matured Child Trust Fund (CTF).
A Child Trust Fund is a long-term, tax-free savings account set
up for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January
2011.
The government deposited a small amount of money into each
CTF, which matures when the account-holder turns 18.
Once the account matures, the account-holder can claim the
money from their CTF account, worth an average of £2,200.
Hundreds of thousands of matured accounts remain unclaimed.
Please help us by encouraging young people to check if they have
a CTF and claim their funds.
They can get more information, including how to find their CTF provider for free on GOV.UK.
Filling National Insurance gaps to increase the State Pension
People have until 5 April 2025 to fill gaps in their National Insurance
(NI) record dating back to 6 April 2006. After this date, payments can only be made for the previous six tax years.
The quickest and easiest way for people to check a State Pension forecast and find out if they can benefit from paying to fill NI gaps is
by checking their NI record on GOV.UK or in the HMRC app.
The HMRC app is free and can help you manage your tax affairs
quickly and easily. Beware of third party apps – HMRC do not
charge for downloading or using our app. Guidance on how to
download the HMRC app is on GOV.UK.
For anyone who is unable to get through on Department for
Work and Pensions’ (DWP) phoneline ahead of the deadline,
they’ve created an online call back request form.
This will enable people to request a call back about paying
voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill gaps in State
Pension entitlement between 2006 and 2018. The form will be
available on the Contact the Future Pension Centre page on
GOV.UK.
DWP will call back to discuss payment of voluntary National
Insurance contributions. This will normally be within 8 weeks of submitting a request, there is no need to make further contact
with DWP or HMRC.
People who submit a request to DWP by 5 April 2025 deadline
will still be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions
back to 6 April 2006, after the deadline has passed.
When a person submits a request, a message will appear on
their screen to confirm that their request has been sent to the
DWP Pension Centre. We’d recommend saving a screenshot
of the confirmation message.
There will be no further need for people to contact DWP or
HMRC.
Tax advice — don’t get caught out by tax avoidance |
