Decision Makers Guide - DMG36006

Particular kinds of self-employment: Business partnerships: Couples in business partnerships

Where claims are received from couples who are both self- employed in the same business partnership the decision maker should
1) calculate the earnings from the partnership on an individual basis, as with any other partnership
2) calculate deductions for

according to the individual liability in order to arrive at the normal weekly earnings of each self-employed earner

3) add earnings, as in 2., to any other income in order to calculate entitlement, but only after all calculations have been completed
4) if personal consumption, personal drawings and private use are declared ensure that the individual apportionment of those amounts is made
5) not assume, in the case of a couple who are also business partners, that the amounts declared relate to one or both of them. The decision maker may have to request further information to establish the total amounts to be taken into account.

Example

A couple declare private use of a motor vehicle of £100. Further enquiries reveal this to be £100 each. The total to be taken into account is thus £200.