[Solved] Going self employed

You need to tell the CSA immediately as they will base their calculations on information received from the date they are informed. With a new business, they take the gross income of the business - ie money earned less reasonable running expenses and VAT - and base their calculation on that. Once it's been running for a while, they'll use your average weekly earnings for the last year.

keep a record of your earnings, start a new bank account solely for your wages, then after 3 months the csa ask for your wage record, i set up a building society account and only ever put wages in it, if i earn 234.65 then that goes in only, sometimes the cashiers look at me like im daft for putting pence in but if thats what you have earned then thats that!!!! ive done this for the last 14 months and no issues have risen yet, hope this helps

This is great advice!!

Back when I was self employed all my money went into the same account so you wouldn't know what I'd actually earn't as profit, I removed money for tax payments but that was it,

So doing it so only your earnings go into an account is a really good way of showing your income.

GTTS

Hi Stever09

Thanks for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. The Child Maintenance Service uses the amount of gross income given to HMRC by a paying parent, their employer or their accountant to work out the average amount of earnings, or, where the paying parent is self-employed, their taxable profits. For every case, the gross income figure will be reviewed each year in order to take account of newer income information given to HMRC. For full information on how maintenance is calculated you can speak to the Child Maintenance Service directly. Their contact details can be found on their website at www.gov.uk/child-maintenance.

To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.

Thanks
William

I am currently earning in a steady job, but almost all my disposable income goes in child maintenance and I am getting further and further into debt. I am struggling to find money to look after my 2 kids when they come to see me, or to take them on holiday. Although I see them each 2 or 3 times a week, because they rarely stay overnight the CSA doesn't take this into account or reduce my payments.

I have been offered the chance by an established consultant to go and work with him but on a self-employed basis. This might enable me to earn between £50k to £100k but would be highly variable. I would have to go and establish myself as a consultant first, and I won't know what day rates I would be paid until I am sat in front of his clients negotiating for myself. I would then have to wait at least 2 and possibly 4 months before the work is done, and I get my first payment, but there is no guarantee of this. My income would then fluctuate dramatically every month, and it would take a long time to get an average.

William, can you please tell me how this is dealt with by the CSA?
- Specifically, how does the CSA deal with the 3 month period where I have would no income? Can I elect to do this?
- If my income varies dramatically I could pay in some months but not others, so how do they deal with that? (I am on a collect and pay arrangement at present).
- If this all goes pear-shaped and I don't end up earning loads, I have stepped out of a small regular income into penury. How do the CSA react to that?

(My ex doesn't need the money, she earns 6 times what I earn, but has told me she is out to bleed me dry. She would not be understanding about a negotiated break in payments. She is also a lawyer, so whatever I did would have to be legally compliant.)

I hope you can help as my friend needs help soon and the consultancy opportunity may disappear. Thanks.

Hmm psycho lawyer - that's my ex. Well, she's no longer a lawyer 😀