Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information β open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you β or someone you know β are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hi everyone, I'm new here and looking for previous experiences and advice ideally, or at the least perhaps a pointer to other info.
It's all a long story but I'll try to keep it short, I worked overseas for nearly 5 years in a country that has no reciprocal arrangements with the UK, however I continued to pay child maintenance to my ex as I always have done, and it was also in excess of what I needed to. Towards Christmas 2015 she was hassling me for the money early so I told her to do one, even though the money transfer was already organised and I wouldn't have not paid. Since then she now refuses to talk to me, and even turned my kids against me, involving them as a middle man which I didn't agree with. They were 14 at the time which fair enough is a decent age but it's still none of their business as far as I'm concerned. I carried on making monthly payments as normal after that date until I returned to the UK late last year.
When I started my new job on PAYE I received a letter from the CMS informing me she had made a claim, which I found ridiculous, as we had always had an informal arrangement before, but of course now she isn't talking to me and her new husband is also sticking his nose in. The CMS then refuse to add my youngest daughter from my current marriage on to the claim as our child benefit claim wasn't on the system, not to mention the proposed deduction is less than the amount they add for another child in my wifes claim which winds me up no end, but I digress.....
So they come up with an incorrect figure, and I ask for a reassessment based on my daughter needing to be added, this was back in December and I am still waiting for them to action this. In the meantime, I hate my new job so I leave and set myself up as self employed so that I can work flexibly around my wifes shifts and be at home more with my daughter. As a result, from the end of January I'm no longer PAYE. I ask them what happens, they say I need to provide evidence of my income, to which I say I can't as I've only just started working. After a number of phonecalls to them finally one useful person suggests a projection of income from my accountant, which I forward on to them. They take ages to respond, then finally send me a useless proof of income form which is no use as I don't have a wage slip or similar. When I phone them up, their stock argument is that as I'm a director of the company legally I should be taking a salary and therefore should have a wage slip. Which is spurious info and there is no legal requirement at all. I'm still awaiting a phonecall from the case manager to sort out both issues one of which is outstanding since December.
Where do I stand here? I have provided a projection of income and they need to include my youngest daughter on the claim, yet everytime I call them they are so obtuse its massively frustrating. Not to mention that they are trying to assert false legal information. Anyone able to offer any help or advice at all? I'm stuck with an assessment and amount that is unrealistic and the CMS are refusing to reassess the case.
Thanks
I had similar, a move from PAYE to a sole Director of a Limited Company. I was naive to all of this and took a while to figure it out. As with you, I could not provide payslips as I was just starting, so they asked me to provide an estimate of my profits in the first year of trading. My accountant provided this based on my known income to the business (contractor to USA company), less costs. They awarded accordingly(high) but then I found my CMS went down a lot the next year, because they base it on salary and dividends and do not take into account corporation tax or NI.
I would not try and wriggle; give them the info they need, otherwise if the ex appeals and goes to tribunal they will want to know everything about your income before tax and make decisions on whether you are diverting income to pay less maintenance. The judge can then make an arbitrary award.
I think I would try and tell them what salary you will pay yourself(assumed minimum tax free) and dividends and assess you on that. Otherwise they will catch up with you when HMRC figures are available, and/or do you for diverting income if you are leaving too much in the company. And back pay would apply also.
Cheers for the advice, that all makes sense and is exactly what I am trying to do based on my accountants advice also. However they just seem to be standing in my way all the time, I mean 4 months to make an adjustment for my daughter is a bit rich, and then when I try to get them to understand that a written forecast of earnings from my accountant is the best I can offer at present they just try and quote pseudo legal rubbish at me.
It's starting to get a bit ridiculous, all she had to do was call them and start the process, and I'm the one stuck with the time and hassle trying to sort it out as they are just stonewalling me when I push for a reconsideration as my income has dropped over 25 percent. I'm in no way trying to mislead anyone either because my first years accounts will show it like you say, can't be arsed with that. However as it stands at the mo, I'm still being told I have to pay over the odds every month because they won't [censored] well do a reassessment/reconsideration. Mind you it's only been 2 months so I shouldn't hold my breath.
Mind you, I'm just checking the bumph they've sent me again and it says in there that I don't have to tell them about any dividend income? Now I am [censored] confused!!
Agreed they say you dont have to tell them, at this stage. If you ex was happy with the assessment just based on salary, then the dividends would never be assessed and the cms award would remain very low. However, if she(as mine did) applies for a variation based on undeclared income, they will send you a form to complete asking you to declare your dividends. I assume your ex will do that too π
Even so, if you do not report them, your HMRC return next year will show them and if over 25% more than the award for this year, she will get back pay, plus an adjustment moving forward.
You can still gain, by being honest about what you are paying yourself, but assuming it does not fully reflect what has been paid into the limited company.
I think if you try and keep it all and only assess on basic salary, you will eventually get caught out, whereas if your ex thinks you are being fair, she is perhaps less likely to make trouble.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We donβt like to set βrulesβ, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.