Can a Self Employed person offset their mortgage interest & Council Tax against tax?

[Zak33]

Apart from this isn't true, because if you have been working full time for more than 2 years you'll have enough NI contributions to claim basic Jobseeker's Allowance, regardless of your partner's income (n.b. capital exemption limits do apply, but if you've got enough capital for them to come into play I've got little sympathy )

cheers for that then.. so saving then leaves you out with no job seekers?

What's the limit these days? About £16 savings? If that's taken 20 years of hard saving.. and then yuo get no jobseekers...... that's fair?

Should have spen the £16k then, yeah?

[scaryjim]

Thinking back, I'm wrong about there being a savings limit for Contributions based jobseekers. They don't take any income or capital information when you claim it, so for at least 6 months you get the money regardless of your financial situation (as long as you are looking for work). If you get towards the end of that period and it doesn't look like you're going to get a job then yes, you should spend your capital, because that's how the system works. I'd have to ask someone who had saved that much money what they were saving it for. A rainy day? They don't get much rainier than being out of work...

And overall the system probably isn't fair, no, but welfare state isn't about fairness. It's a safety net. I think it's being abused, and it almost certainly needs an overhaul, but I wouldn't want to see it scrapped...