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Hi all. Just joined the Forum and would be grateful for any insights on this. Apologies for long/detailed background...
I have 2 kids with my ex and we have 'close to' shared care - i.e. day to day it's pretty equal, but she ensures that she is the 'primary carer' and receives my daughter's disability benefit. I share all expenses, as well as paying for mobility equipment (wheelchair etc) for my daughter.
I'm not going to fight for shared care status, but also don't want to pay more maintenance than I need to (I'd rather spend on the kids at my discretion). My ex earns quite well, drives a nice car, takes kids on nice holidays etc.
I am sole director and shareholder of my company and can control what income I pay myself. The company did well last year and I am starting to pay myself regular dividends. She realises this and has notified the CMS, and I now need to send an Earnings Declaration. Strictly speaking, I only need to disclose my earned income (a low salary), and the CMS will find out the full annual dividend from HMRC when I declare it at year end and file my self-assessment tax return. So I could wait until then - probably 9 months away - and I expect my maintenance payments would automatically jump from under £300 to over £1000/month. But will CMS backdate my payments to include the current tax year, or ask for evidence of when I began paying myself the increased dividends?
In the meantime, my ex could apply for a variation order/further investigation, forcing me to disclose sooner.
So I'm considering disclosing some of the dividends now, effectively doubling my current maintenance payment (and this would be backdated to last Sep '(21). This might pre-empt further enquiries (but I'd still end up paying the higher amount from Sep '22).
The bottom line is I'd rather pay an extra £3k or so a year and avoid the hassle of a tribunal.
Just wondered if anyone can relate to this? Should I play hardball/pay minimum as long as possible, or appease and pre-empt further enquiries?
Thanks in advance.
hi,
I used to be director of LTD company like yourself. It would be very wise to declare the dividends, especially now as your ex has complained to CMS about it. Also when CMS check your income via HMRC, they do not see your dividends. They see your salary. This is what happened every year at my annual review. I had to contact them at each review time and send letter from accountant about dividends. It is better to declare early and avoid and messy problems with investigators and tribunals.
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