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Work homepage
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Overview
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Benefits and payments homepage
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Overview
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Benefits and forms
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On a benefit homepage
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Overview
Check out what you need to do when you're getting a benefit or other payment from us.
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Housing homepage
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Overview
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Nowhere to stay
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Other languages
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loginNew guidance for applying as a sole trader
10 June 2024.
Sole traders may be eligible for a main benefit or other assistance depending on their situation.
A sole trader is a self-employed person who uses their personal Inland Revenue (IR) number for their business use. They could be a contractor (like a hairdresser or tradie) or someone who sells something (like art).
You can use the ‘Check what you might get’ tool to see what you’re eligible for.
Declaring your income
To give you the right support, we need to know what income you earn.
Preparing your income information
You'll need to provide either a:
- IR3 – Individual tax return
- IR3B – Schedule of business income
- profit and loss account, or
- current account (if separate from the balance sheet).
If you don’t have these forms, or we need more information, we may ask you to provide:
- your full set of accounts, including:
- a profit/loss statement and
- balance sheet.
Help to prepare your accounts
It’s important we have the correct income information. If you need help preparing this, support is available online and in the community.
The Inland Revenue website is a helpful place to start.
For help in the community, see the Family Services Directory.
What to do while getting a benefit or payment
Even though you're a sole trader, you may have work obligations while you’re getting a benefit or payment from us. This could include taking steps to find full-time employment. We'll talk about this when we meet with you.
There’s more information on our page:
Support to enter self-employment
Support is available for people entering self-employment. More information is on our page:
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