₦airaland Forum

STENON:
Just making our bucket list for 2023
I am planning of going home with my family at some point in this year, I am from the rural part of South Western Nigeria.

My son is 2 years old and has never been to Nigeria. His Dad is white Scottish .

Please what are the safety precautions for food and water safety? Do I need to go with bottled water from here or just boil water at home for them? What are the dos and don't? Do you think it is wise to go now that he is 2 years old or I should wait a bit longer? What are the necessary immunisations to take? Please kindly help a confused mum. Thank you xx

Hello, I’ve been to Nigeria with my daughter who is mixed race and her Scottish dad yearly except for 2020 when Covid was rife. We returned in July 2021 and also visited last Oct.

We usually stay in an Airbnb in Lekki that's centrally located, secure and with all the modern day facilities to make their stay comfortable and we’ve had no issues (touchwood) in any of our previous stays. Most of the Airbnb accommodations have the Cway water dispensers so you would need to refill this from time to time.

The best thing to do regarding vaccination is to visit your GP or local travel clinic. The travel nurse will tell you which vacs are compulsory for travel to Nigeria and which ones are just recommended. Your hubby would definitely need a yellow fever vac for sure. I’m not sure about your son but it will depend on if he is travelling on a Nigeria passport. I think they may ask you to get tetanus, rabies etc but some of these jabs have long validity so you don’t need to get them that often. I find that the most expensive element is the anti malaria drugs as they tend to push for Malarone which is very dear. In addition to the Malarone, I use to buy jungle formula/deet creams for use but always end up not using them and haven’t had any malaria incidence.

For food depending on what your two year old fancies, I usually take a lot of food with me, mainly breakfast stuff and snacks because my daughter is fussy. This last trip I took a polystyrene cool box full of Aberdeen Angus steak, fresh haddock, sausages and salmon. It was still very frozen when we got there. I used to just buy from shop rite but my daughter and hubby always complained that the steak was too ‘toug’h’, chicken too ‘hard’, too much ‘bones’ in the fish and sausages tasted ‘funny’ so I resorted to taking my own.

Last October, my daughter and I ventured to the East for the first time in 10years while hubby returned to UK. He didn’t feel brave enough but said he will come next time after the elections. You will need to be vigilant and take all the necessary precautions you would normally take when visiting a foreign place.

Also just to add to what Chreze said about boundaries, be prepared to see people come up to you in the mall to stroke your child’s hair/face etc. You just need to shine your red eye for them and they will run away. They will also constantly ask your spouse for money in the airport.

Get travel insurance too.

Let me know if you have any specific questions you would like answered,

sugarkemi:
.

But is the figure realistic after am done with school.?

Very possible if both of you are in a bubble and just existing but not living life. By the time you factor in monthly mortgage payment of about £1,200 for a reasonable 3 bed house, childcare costs @ circa £1,200 per child for the first 5 years of their life, annual holiday costs £3,500, annual car insurance for a new comer in UK circa £1,200 etc, you will be hard pressed to find £1K savings let alone £3K at the end of the month.

dustydee:
Please does anyone know where I can swap naira for pounds or the new naira notes?

Best thing is to find someone going to Nigeria and give them the money to swap for you. That’s what I did with my remaining Naira notes.

jum33:
Hmmm ,you actually made a good point . Though I have done some digging on searching for volunteering positions on data analyst role on indeed but couldnt get anything tangible and I start feeling it more like a network thing that I might need to sacrifice some money to get myself launched into ,might be wrong though .As a jjc in UK with a very tight budget with no money to waste I will really appreciate iif I can get someone to point me to the right direction on getting something similar to this without paying anyone for training again

Probably best to start by applying for smaller roles in this field to get your foot in the door. Once you gain the basic UK experience and knowledge required, you can scale up to bigger roles.

babythug:
Good evening oh my people!

Shey we will not run to our country and come back here during summer bayii?

Just looking at my smart meter reading for today alone and fear dey catch me sha

How is everyone coping?

It’s expensive and the cold artic blast of the past few days is not helping matters. I’m averaging £8 per day on a very cold day (like -0 degrees) and about £5 on a normal day. I’ve worked out that it costs £1 per hour (gas) to heat up my house so I have the heating set for 2hrs in the morning and 2hrs at night time. On particularly cold days, I boost for an additional 2hrs in the afternoon because I work from home.

I’m afraid the situation is not going to change anytime soon. You just have to find a way around it. Buy oodies and hot water bottles to use in the house and keep doors shut to retain heat and reduce draft. If your house is susceptible to mold and condensation, invest in a good dehumidifier.

meljoe:
I’m in school , January session
I just applied and it’s stated 40 hours , was surprised I got it but it was written 40 hours on the job description and full time position

Did you inform them during the interview that you are a student and are restricted to 20hrs during term time?

lightnlife:
Thanks for snapping me off the confusion.

You're correct. IPT is paid by the insurance company while benefit in kind tax is what employees pay for their PMI.

With that point clarified, my question was understanding the rationale behind taxing employees on their company PMI because companies brandish PMI as part of benefits only for the employees to be taxed on it again. Sounds like greek gift.

Will appreciate your insight.

I’m afraid there’s not much you can do about it, it’s the law of the land we live in. Any non-cash payment that forms part of your remuneration package that is not wholly, exclusively and necessary for the performance of your contractual duty is a benefit in kind and is taxed accordingly.

If you are a basic rate tax payer, the tax would be 20% of the insurance premium. You can compare that with the actual cost of arranging the insurance yourself and see if you are better off getting it through the company. If you also have a company vehicle where there is significant private use, you will also need to pay tax on it.

If that’s the only thing you need to declare to HMRC, I would suggest completing your tax return by yourself once you receive your P11D. It’s pretty straightforward to do so online.

MrMash:
Boss please why would they possibly return the money? It's the full amount. The money looks good, but it's not even IHS refund.

I will keep the money ‘safe’ in a separate account for now if you feel it was refunded in error. They may be in contact again to request for it if and when they realise the error.

lightnlife:
Has anyone had some thoughts about this?

Employer gives you Health Insurance benefit (FREE) but the employee still pays PMI tax (IPT) of 12%. Sounds like a greek gift.

My initial thought is why tax for PMI if you're already contributing to the NI scheme and have access to the NHS. Most times the claim process for these PMI are tiring.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think you are confusing Insurance Premium Tax with tax on Benefit in Kind.

Free health insurance scheme from your employer will most likely be treated as a benefit in kind and is taxable. Your employer will issue you a P11D at the end of the tax year and you will have to complete a self assessment return.

Progressivegee:
I was told driving was a requirement and yes the company provides vehicles but wasn't explicit about manual transmission. Since the driving incidence, I have received a cold treatment including threatening of job sack and return to my country at any slight instance. My ID card expired since November and wasn't renewed so I move about with an expired company ID. I wasn't given the required training my colleagues were given. I get queried for things other colleagues do. E.g I was told I will be sacked for wearing the company's coat in a client's house but other senior colleagues do wear same coat and no one bat's an eyelid. I am accused of doing things and never given a chance to defend myself.

If the advert mentioned driving was an essential requirement for the job, the company may well be within their rights. However the use of intimidation and bullying is never the right approach. This is when being a member of a Union becomes very useful as you can get representation and advice in situations like this but I appreciate you are new in the country so not an option for you.

TheGuyFromHR raised a question about recruitment costs which has been glossed over - did the company pay your relocation expenses from Nigeria?

AKALAMAGBO:
Wow… How accurate My car turned to face the oncoming vehicle around 8:30 am today along M54 Slip road, it was only God that saved me, all oncoming vehicle slowed down and turned their hazard lights on… It was as if the snow was using my steering… I was moved from Motorway to the Wolverhampton M54 slip road by the snow, it was a scary and funny experience today… I was really shocked and gobsmacked, I felt like my life was going to end just there….I drive BMW series 1

Is BMW traction control that very bad

Rule no.1 never drive BMW in the snow. If you must drive one, get winter tyres with enhanced grips and handling. Secondly no matter how experienced you are, if you hit black ice it’s only God and the angels in heaven that can save you.

japhethGold:
MARRIAGE ALLOWANCE-MA

Are you aware that you can share your unutilized annual personal allowance of GBP12,570 with your husband or wife?
The tax law allows a partner who has got unutilized personal allowance to transfer part of it to his or her partner.

A personal allowance is unutilized if the total annual income you earn in a year while in the UK is less than the annual personal allowance. All taxpayers in the UK are entitled to annual personal allowance of GBP12,570. However, many families have a partner who may not be able to work due to the child care responsibilities they have. Or they work part time and earn sparingly, which means their annual income will be below annual personal allowance of GBP12,570.

In the above instance, the law allows the partner who could not utilize her personal allowance to transfer part of it to her/his partner. However, the maximum amount that couple could transfer to each other in a tax year is GBP1,260. You can not transfer more than this amount from your unutilized personal allowance to your spouse.

There is evidence that couple who utilize their MA could reduce their tax bill by an amount ranging between GBP365 to GBP 960 per annum. So, why not claim MA.

You could follow me on Tiktok @japhethjev1 for a short video about UK taxtips.

Again this post is misleading! The maximum amount of tax relief available from Marriage allowance is £252 i.e £1,260 @ 20% tax.

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

However, there is another relief called Married Couples Allowance where the tax relief ranges from £364 to £941.50. This is only available to people born before 6th April 1935 and I doubt anyone amongst us here will qualify for this relief.

https://www.gov.uk/married-couples-allowance

I operate in this space so know the difference between the two but the layman would probably not be able to identify the difference. To claim that people can obtain tax relief up to £940 from Marriage Allowance is very misleading.

Estroller:
I know this to be the case and it's why I sought the clarification from japhetgold because his earlier post suggests anyone can claim relief on their mortgage payments and then in subsequent post he listed conditions that only those with income generating properties can meet.

Yes I noted that as well but I think it’s time to move this conversation along and not allow the comments from the last two pages to further detract the purpose of this thread.

Estroller:
Is this not for employees with income generating properties? Dustydee initial question to my understanding is can an employee with a single home seek tax relief on their mortgage payments like self employed individuals do?

Yes mortgage interest tax relief is only available to landlords, any landlord irrespective of whether they are self employed or In employment will need to complete a self assessment tax return yearly to declare the rental income and claim appropriate tax relief. Ordinary individuals who are just home owners do not qualify for this relief. I hope this clarifies the situation for you and Dustydee.

japhethGold:
If you had said exactly this I could have appreciated your genuine concern. But you slighted the list of accountancy bodies in the UK and mention even a lower technician body but left CIMA which is one of the biggest body in the whole world out. Probably you noticed I said I was CIMA qualified.

Bros, we are not kids so let’s stop side stepping conversation. Let’s be genuine in our conversations.

Thank you

Ok I said I wasn’t going to comment again but I think you have the wrong end of the stick here and are completely missing the message I was trying to convey.

When I posted my comment about the professional Accountancy bodies, I listed a few that I could remember off the top of my head. The fact that I didn’t mention CIPFA, CiMA etc is not a slight on those qualifications. You can check the timeline of my post to see that I already made the comment before you disclosed your CIMA qualification.

Secondly, most professional accountancy bodies require intending members to achieve a minimum of 3 years practical experience in UK Taxation (if following the tax advisor career route) before allowing them to complete complex tax returns hence my comment about needing more than 2 years UK tax experience to acquire the skill-set required for this line of work. Again this was not a dig at you or any new immigrants.

Thirdly, I’m not a Bros. I still stand by my original advice, people should do their DD before engaging the services of any accountant.

japhethGold:
I am not surprised at your comment because this is how Africans and blacks behave.

Like I said in my post, there’s no offence intended. This is a public forum and hardly the place to be seeking or giving professional advice. I am duty bound to advise any one seeking such professional advice to do their due diligence first before engaging anyone. You can interpret it anyhow you want but that’s me finished with this conversation.

deept:
You could go on gov.uk. there could be something for people who work from home as staff.

There’s a use of home allowance of £6 per week which amounts to £312 which anyone working from home can claim.

Luchiano54:
Please, how do I contact you? I sent an email here.

You really need to tread carefully here, this is a public forum for people to share personal experiences and not intended for professional advise. If you need the services of an accountant or tax consultant, you can find one local to you using the ACCA, ICAS, ICAEW, ATT directory. UK tax laws are particularly complex and requires significant technical knowledge which can only be acquired through practise and regular exposure to complex cases. No offence intended but I do not think that someone who has spent less than two years in this country will have the requisite technical know how required for this line of work.

There’s also a reason why most accountants don’t advertise their services. Potential clients find them and not the other way round,

japhethGold:
I am the The CPA Guy- a chartered accountant here in the UK

@japhethjev1 on tiktok to listen to these tips.

Hello, can I ask which professional accountancy body you belong to and how many years UK tax experience you have?

MrMash:
Please are you insinuating £7.50 a day which translates into £225 per month is okay? it is just a bedroom flat. The merchant that tops the Token Key seff told me something seems off.

£225 less rebate of £65 is about £160 which sounds about right for an average household bill in the current climate. Without knowing your personal circumstances, I can’t advise if this is reasonable for your household or not.

If you are sure the meter was not in debit from the previous tenant, then I would say the charges are correct. Is your house an all electric house or do you use gas for heating?

mizGene:
For just gas alone(I assume gas heating too)?

I always thought gas was cheaper than electricity..is my assumption wrong?
With the energy price hikes, should one be looking for electricity or gas heating?

I’m assuming the prepayment meter is for both gas and electric. Gas is usually cheaper than electricity…most homes use both or just electric.

MrMash:
..

Looks about right to me. £50 top up 5 days ago works out to be about £7.50 a day with £13 remaining. Do you have a traditional or smart prepaid meter? You should receive monthly rebate vouchers as part of the £400 Government Energy Rebate Scheme.

Chreze:
Lol. it’s respected cos we can’t do anything about it. It’s just somehow. my take is actually focused on PSW n other working type of visa that allows you to work full time and pay the 20% n above tax range. Also no be everybody get pikin. It’s just somehow. I think the minute you get a full time job and start to contribute to tax paying, then you should qualify for public fund.

Even if it’s to put a minimum pay, n say maybe £50k and above or something. Someone earning £50k is already contributing a minimum of £20k on tax. It’s funny that person can’t get access to public fund (if he/she has no IRL).

When you eventually get ILR and citizenship, you will soon realise that you still won’t get any benefit from the government as it’s all means tested. The more you earn the less likely you are to be eligible for any benefits including the straightforward ones like child benefit.

Viruses:
Does anyone have experience with single rate tariff vs day/night rate tariff?

I'm thinking of moving to a single rate tariff because its stressful waking up at night to turn on/off storage heater because of night rate and we use most of our electricity during the day.

Which is better?

If you look back on this thread, we have discussed this in detail previously. Storage heaters work on dual tariff I.e off peak and day tariff. They are supposed to charge up during the night when there is off peak usage (cheaper electric) and then release the heat during the day. There is also some off peak electricity during the day in the afternoons but this will vary with your supplier. You can use your washing machine, dishwasher and other appliances during this time to avoid having to wake up at night. Your storage heater and hot water boiler are usually hard wired to the off peak meter. Changing to a standard meter will mean re-wiring and I don’t think this is straightforward and simple.

How much is your night rate (off peak rate) compared to the day rate? You will find that you are making considerable savings by restricting your energy use to off peak period compared to someone on a standard tariff.

hustla:
I will have to.. Cos it seems it'll be better to just sell off if that's ever the case with my Waka

Thank you!

You can keep the property if it’s likely you will return to the UK after your various Waka. Otherwise it might be best to sell it before your departure.

hustla:
Income tax? Why??!

Irrespective of whether you live in the UK or not, any income received in the UK is subject to UK income tax, this includes property income. Please speak to an accountant regarding the non-resident landlord scheme if you wish to pursue this route.

Omoluv5:
Hello everyone!
Please is it advisable to bring kids 7,5&3 from Nigeria to the UK with the unaccompanied minor flight ticket plan? They're coming to join I and my spouse on a dependents visa, I and spouse came in 2months ago, I'm the student, we're trying to cut down on travelling cost...

Any thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated, thanks as you share.

Have you checked the airline’s conditions for unaccompanied minor ticket? Most times it’s restricted to kids that are 12 years and above.

hustla:
Lexusgs430 Ticha and other OGs

I have one question

If I buy a house in the UK and then I want to move to another country, can I rent out the house and keep collecting rent on it while I'm away?
Do I have to pay any additional tariff just so I can turn it to a property I want to let?

This is assuming I do not have a British passport yet but I still pay mortgage on it.

In addition to Ticha’s detailed explanation, rental income from your UK property will be subject to income tax even if you are no longer resident in UK. You will need to do a yearly self assessment to cover this and if you do decide to sell it while still abroad, it will also be subject to CGT if the value has appreciated significantly.

Chreze:
Hi Peerielass thanks for the offer. Glasgow based, south of Glasgow.

Message me. I have one you can have for free. You will need to arrange delivery/collection.

Chreze:
Please I need suggestions for a very good dehumidifier that is around £150 ( less or a little higher) with good litre size.

The only option I am Seeing with good review is the Meaco Dry Arete One 20 Litre Dehumidifier for £260, I would like something lesser if possible with good review base on personal usage. I can say the house is moderately wet, just a small ceiling mold (which I believe has been fixed after the leakage around chimney was fixed some months back because it’s not increasing, just decreasing slowly), musty odor and window dew in parents room, and cough that I am now uncomfortable with.

Please I need urgent help, thinking of picking one maybe tomorrow. The musty room
Smell and child cough is driving me crazy.

Ebac is supposedly the best dehumidifier though a bit pricey. Where are you based? I have one that is now surplus to requirement. Message me for details.

MichaelUde:
Nigerians and expectations. Nothing wey person no go see for here.
About the NHS pay as opposed to care, first, are those saying its worse comparing like for like? Basically, how much per hour does the average care assistant earn as compared to the hourly pay rate for an NHS Band 3? In other words, make una no dey compare person wey dey work 80 hours a week in care to someone working 37.5 hours a week in the NHS on band 3. Of course, someone working 37.5 hours a week fit still work more hours, after all many nurses also work for agencies on weekends,

Correct! I know of one that works over 60 hours a week in a care role and makes an average of £3,500 per month. She looked at me with contempt when I suggested going for a business support assistant job in a council with a monthly salary of about £2,000 and guaranteed pension, clear career path and flexi time.

People are very fortunate that things have opened up in UK after Brexit, if this was 10 -15 years ago when Teresa May was Home Secretary and David Cameron PM, there was a clamp down on visas and the very few jobs that were available were ‘reserved’ for Eastern Europeans, I doubt they will think £22K was peanuts then. I’m sure majority of the older immigrants on here would have experienced this and this explains why we don’t see things from rose tinted glasses.

kode12:
Is there some kind of inherited genetic predisposition for brits to be on the spectrum or is that just some quasi-cultural thing that has become part of the medical norm for doctors to just label the kids as on the spectrum?

##Or is my perception on the matter just skewed because Nigeria doesn't do enough testing to determine if kids are on the autistic spectrum or have cognitive disabilities and just assume the child is a "dullard"?

Probably the same reason why Covid-19 cases were infinitesimal in Africa compared to developed countries. Same reasoning can be attributed to Dementia, Alzheimer’s, ADHD and even cervical cancer. The fact that there are no routine tests conducted to pick up these things does not mean that they do not exist in Nigeria.

Without going into too much details, I know of a Nigerian family here in UK that have three kids on the autistic spectrum. The mum told me the main reason why they moved here was so her children can attend mainstream school unlike in Nigeria where they will be assigned to a special school. Currently one of the kids is studying Engineering and the second child has just gained admission to study Medicine at Glasgow. The third is still in high school.

I also have another Nigerian friend in America whose young son is diagnosed with Autism. So Autism is not just peculiar to the white folk. However it is more prevalent because of the proactive diagnosis, interventions and preventative measures taken to ensure that kids with autism get all the help and support the need to function as confident and independent adults.
Same with cervical cancer screening and vaccination which is given to secondary school kids. 3/4 of women in Nigeria have never been for a smear test, they will probably attribute death from cervical cancer to the work of village people.

I think that we are very fortunate to live in this part of the world where proactive measures are taken.