Benefits Guide
Tax credits and housing benefit for self-employed drivers
Your reported profit directly affects how much support you receive — many drivers get this wrong and lose money.
By Paul Taylor, Chartered Accountant Last updated:
Draft guide — full content coming soon
This is a scaffold page. The structure is final; the copy below is placeholder and will be replaced with the full guide shortly.
Basics
Profit vs turnover — what's the difference?
Benefits care about what's left after allowable expenses.
TODO: explain the difference between turnover (everything that comes in) and profit (turnover minus allowable expenses), in plain English for taxi and private hire drivers.
TODO: short worked example showing how expenses change profit.
Benefits affected
Which benefits depend on your self-employed profit?
Tax Credits, Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit all use your figures.
TODO: short overview of Tax Credits, Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit, with a note on which is being phased out and which is the current system.
- TODO: Tax Credits — how profit is reported.
- TODO: Housing Benefit — how self-employed income is assessed.
- TODO: Universal Credit — monthly reporting and how it differs.
TaxiManager
Track your income and tax in real time with TaxiManager
Know your real profit before the next benefits review.
Records
What records do you need to keep?
Enough to answer questions from DWP or your local council without a scramble.
TODO: list the records typically requested during a benefits check — income, expenses, mileage, plate fees, commission, bank statements.
The same records keep you ready for HMRC under MTD software for taxi drivers — one set of digital records, both jobs covered. Driving for Uber? See the Uber driver tax guide for what counts as income and what you can claim.
How TaxiManager helps
Track profit through the year, not just at tax time
Real-time profit means real-time answers when benefits are reviewed.
TODO: how TaxiManager surfaces running profit, categorised expenses, and driver-specific categories (fuel, mileage, plate fees, commission).
Track your profit
Know your real profit — before the next benefits review.
TaxiManager shows your up-to-date profit all year round.
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