[Solved] Child Maintenance but unemployed

Have you written to the CMS, setting out the position you mention with some evidence?

I would do that. Write a letter, attach all the evidence and send it.

yes they can be a pain to deal with. during this pandemic, they said if i want support, then i would have to close down my company. then another person said i need to give proof that i am no longer self-employed. i sent them evidence of me de-registering for VAT, and emails from my accountant, showing that they are no longer reporting a monthly PAYE income to HMRC. now CMS reduced my maintenance with their 25% rule.

i have no job or new income now, so asked them if i can pay 0 maintenance until i can find work again. they probably won't accept that.

what their doing with you is wrong. during their annual review, they check your income with HMRC. if its showing as NIL, then really you should not be paying anything, unless they have evidence that you are getting income.

Hi, Yes I write to the CMS regularly. Being a contractor for a 3 month term it wasn't worth setting up a company.
I can't seem to prove I am unemployed and the CMS ignores any letter that I write.

Hi, I spoke too HMRC and they have confirmed every tax return I have sent them and the last 2 years as NIL. The HMRC also said they dont understand why CMS dont see the same data.

I spoke to the CMS today (30 minute wait time), and after speaking to 3 different people, the last one said that the new demand was based on the HMRC sending through a notification that I would be getting state benefits (a state pension) of £99,000.00 from 1st September !! I asked did they not question this as no one ever gets over £7 or £8 grand annual pension - they said it wasn't their job to question but to apply. It seems a strange coincidence that this was the same figure the CMS are using from a 2013/2014 tax year ! They told me I have to speak to HMRC to sort it out.

Hi, Yes I write to the CMS regularly. Being a contractor for a 3 month term it wasn't worth setting up a company.
I can't seem to prove I am unemployed and the CMS ignores any letter that I write.

if you can get some kind of termination letter from client/employer it would help. would they give you a P45? or send them contract that has the end date. other than that you could try sign up to universal credit, and send that to them as proof.

Hi, I spoke too HMRC and they have confirmed every tax return I have sent them and the last 2 years as NIL. The HMRC also said they dont understand why CMS dont see the same data.

I spoke to the CMS today (30 minute wait time), and after speaking to 3 different people, the last one said that the new demand was based on the HMRC sending through a notification that I would be getting state benefits (a state pension) of £99,000.00 from 1st September !! I asked did they not question this as no one ever gets over £7 or £8 grand annual pension - they said it wasn't their job to question but to apply. It seems a strange coincidence that this was the same figure the CMS are using from a 2013/2014 tax year ! They told me I have to speak to HMRC to sort it out.

lol. you should call HMRC and ask if they are drunk. maybe your ex is probably playing a part, trying to dig for income and pestering CMS as well.

H.i Bill337
Yes, plan to call HMRC first thing on Monday morning.

Everything on my HMRC gateway is correct and shows the same tax figures.
Interestingly though, HMRC say they never send anything out to any 3rd parties (including CMS, SFE etc). They provide links or access to their data for parties like the CMS, and it will give them basic info like tax year and amount BUT the CMS requests it using the fathers details (especially name and NI number).
So the HMRC say they can see the same info they see and tell me and what I can see.

Also I doubt the HMRC would send out anything 6 months in advance and it seems very strange that
1) the CMS say its state benefits (like unemployments etc) - but why £99,000 ?? - nobody gets that
2) it may be if the state pension kicks in, but again, that is about £7k per annum
3) it also seems very strange that this state benefit is exactly the same figure as my last tax return of 2013/2014
4) the CMS say they don't qualify the data or check it as being unbelievable.

There are 3 things I know that will happen,
1) CMS will say it wasn't their fault
2) they will continue to use the figure from the 2013/2014
3) there will ignore everything and insist on £700 per month

John

Hi Bill,
No P45 etc as I was simply a contractor. However, I did declare my 3 months income to the HMRC and it was all filed correctly.
So really no proof of no job.
Also, I keep going to the JSA (DWP) and explaining my situation, and they told me as I was self employed I wasn't entitled to JSA.

are you still registered for self assessment? if so, i would have thought if you submit self assessment every year, with nil/0 in every field, then CMS would use that for your annual review and decide you have no income.

some info about telling HMRC that you are no longer self-employed:

https://www.gov.uk/stop-being-self-employed

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/CeaseTrading

after all this, you will get a confirmation statement online, or they may post it to you. that can be evidence your no longer self employed. for me, i just de-registered my VAT account and sent CMS PDF screenshot of confirmation, and showed some emails from accountant to CMS. and that worked.

Hi Bill337,
Thanks for the tips.

I have (at the weekend) sent off a tax return (for tax year ending 2019/2020) with all zeros in the fields and its been filed at HMRC.
Hopefully, once HMRC has done its work I can then direct this at the CMS. However, I doubt the CMS will take any notice anyway.

I also found out that given the CMS instructs the non resident parent what to pay (and powers to enforce it) , if the CMS is proved to be wrong you can not get the money back, and I doubt my ex will pay anything back. The CMS just say you have to speak to the other party and they don't want to get involved.

I will also read your links as this could also be quite useful - thanks for finding these.

My son says he wants to do an apprenticeship this year, so I would rather contribute money towards that (ie payments for clothes, study materials, travel costs, etc) to help him directly.

have a read of this: https://www.nacsa.co.uk/appeals-tribunals

tells you how to appeal their decisions.