When I left university I was unable to find a job so signed up for JSA for a period of about 6-8 weeks. after that I got a job in telesales in a small company. I was so happy to of found work it didn't occur to me that the usual protocall or taking NI number etc was not done, I worked in the company for about 5-6 month earning about £500 per month at which point a moved to a similar company offering more money. In this position I was the only administrator/hr/accounts person in the company. I was informed at this point that I was now 'self employed' I had never been self employed before and had assumed (very naively!) that all tax and NI contributions would be sorted by my employers. I earned around 1,500 per month at this job (£18,000 pa) which I worked at from Feb 2012 until Feb 2013. During this period I was told to set up a limited company in my name which I did but had all earning paid into my own personal account.
I am no longer at this job as I wanted to find a proper secure and properly run company to work in - but in the meantime I need to go back to claiming JSA it is my understanding that as I have not paid any NI I wont be eligible for this? I have started my JSA claim but now I am worried that once they delve into my contributions and see my bank statements questions will be asked about my lack of tax contributions. I am also very worried about the fact I have never declared myself self employed, what sanctions and fines may be around the corner waiting for me. I just want to get back into a normal PAYE job so I can put this nightmare behind me. I am losing sleep over this and have a meeting to discuss my JSA claim tomorrow should I attend or is this opening a can of worms???
Please be kind enough to respond as soon as you can?
A Webster.
