If you are self-employed and wish to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, we need to decide whether you are eligible for benefit.

We do this by looking at your total net weekly income from your self-employed earnings and any other income and capital you may have.

First we have to work out the net profit from your total income.

The net profit is calculated as follows:

• Gross income less any allowable expenses = pre tax profit

These are expenses that we consider reasonable and are incurred wholly for running the business.

Examples of allowable business expenses include:

• Rent and water rates on business premises;
• Gas, electricity and any other fuel costs on business premises;
• Telephone charges;
• Advertising;
• Postage and stationary;
• Legal and accountancy fees;
• Buying stock and supplies
• Business only motor expenses

There are certain expenses that the Inland Revenue allow but we cannot, such as:

• Depreciation;
• Capital expenditure;
• Business entertainment

We follow the same guidelines if the business partners are a couple. This ensures that we calculate the deductions for tax and national insurance correctly.

No. When calculating the net profit for self-employed child minders we do not deduct business expenses. We arrive at the net profit by deducting tax, national insurance and any pension contributions from one third of the gross income.

• A certified set of current accounts
• If these are not available, a completed self-employed income from that we can provide.

If we use an estimated figure to assess your claim, we will write to you after three months for actual income and expenditure figures.