People engaged in self-employment may claim unemployment assistance provided they satisfy the means test. Any income from self-employment is assessable for means for this purpose and any unemployment assistance is reduced on a £1 for £1 basis by reference to the means.
The method of assessment involves a calculation of the person's income for the year ahead. In the absence of any other way of determining the means, the previous year's income, updated for any expected changes, is used as the basis of assessment. The actual income assessed as means is gross income less all work-related expenses. In the case of a landholder, for example, the means from the farm are taken as the gross income, less expenses incurred in the running of the farm. In all such assessments my Department depends on evidence of income supplied by the claimant.