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Hi,
Please can i seek clarity on what income is assessed as part of a CMS calculation, as its confusing from the forums. My partner has been assessed once and from what we could the calculation was based on the previous years income i.e. PAYE and no other factors? Has something changed in recent months that automatically checks for "other sources of income", or would this only become a factor when a variation is requested?
In reality how likely is a variation, as my partner has no contact with the resident parent, or the child (sad story and not one of their making). Does the resident parent have to have grounds, or can they go on a fishing exhibition?
Thanks in advance for any guidance and help
NB not here to be judged and as elvis famously sung "walk a mile in my shoes"
Income is income. CMS calculations are done based upon the entire situation.
Income tax is paid on your total income ( paye, dividends, property rental etc etc ). There is nothing to the best of my knowledge in any part of the law or tax system that significantly distinguishes one method of earning money from another ( e.g. PAYE vs Dividiends ) - there are some minor differences but overall they come out kinda close.
Various forms and parts of the process will for information - however ultimately CMS checks and verifies things with HMRC to look at what the total earnings are for a year.
The check with HMRC has been a part of it since the 2012 process.
One thing with dividends however is when they are taken and when they are declared. HMRC can see paye earnings on a monthly/quarterly basis - however dividends are not declared at the time of payment, they are declared to HMRC in the next self assessment return due - which can be something like up to 18 months after dividends have been taken ( depending on exactly when in the tax year dividends are taken and how close to the self assessment deadline the tax return is submitted ).
A resident parent can submit a variation with various things in it - dispute earnings, hidden earnings and so on.
However in the first case CMS will go back to HMRC to request figure for last complete year - which may be different to the last annual review if the tax return containing the dividends was submitted after the annual review.
If dividends are not declared on the self assessment then that is a very bad thing - because HMRC will come after it. Avoiding tax by legal schemes and setups is one thing - just not declaring income to HMRC is a risk that comes with prison sentences attached.
So HMRC will report back to CMS the last figure from the last self assessment they got.
Each year at the annual review HMRC will report to CMS the last figure from the last self assessment they got.
With regards to having grounds - there needs to be some grounds - but given that being a Director of a ltd company is a public record, and running a company typically requires some kind of public presence it might not be so hard to present such evidence. Facebook, website, adverts, Companies House records,
Ultimately your partner is either declaring everything he earns to HMRC via his tax return - in which case his calculation will already be correct - OR he is not declaring everything in which case HMRC will want to know why not and what the back tax, plus CMS will adjust the calculation to the new total earnings.
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