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I pay my ex-wife direct, (family arrangement?) but broadly based on information from the CSA.
Originally i was paying for my two children, but the older child went off to University,
two years ago, so I reduced the payments from 20% to 15%.
Since my direct payments were last calculated by the CSA, I have started paying
significant AVCs (Additional Voluntary Contributions) towards my pension,
from my salary, so my net income on my pay-slip has reduced considerably.
Can anyone tell me if these AVC payments should now be taken into account in the
child maintenance calculations as part of my pension contributions?
This has all been prompted by a letter from the CSA giving me a new rate to
pay which is slightly less than my ex-wife is receiving from me at the moment,
probably based on my salary from about 3 years ago..
I haven't yet supplied any new information to the CSA or been requested to.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide, particularly from those who also
pay AVCs.
Why have the CSA written to you if you are paying by a family based arrangement?
Assuming it is a private arrangement, then the CSA figure you are quoting is correct, and you are allowed to deduct pension payments from the figure for maintenance calculations. If she does decide to open a case, then it will be with the CMS now, which will mean that you are paying 12% of gross payments (instead of 15% of net) but pensions can still be taken into account I believe.
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