CSA and being self-employed

ivagoldfish · 8 August 2006 at 5:26PM

I'm currently employed on the staff payroll of a corporate company.
Am thinking of starting up a Ltd company with my 'current' wife as director. I would then change circumstances and move from being on staff payroll to being contractor through my wife's company; but doing exactly the same job for the same corporate company. Say, the Ltd company of my wife was being paid £40k for the work I was doing but my wife only paid me £400 a month. What figures would the CSA use to work out payments to first wife?

System · 8 August 2006 at 6:13PM

With that sort of question you're obviously hoping tha CSA will accept that you only earn £400.

The payments to your first wife are not for her they are for your children.

ivagoldfish · 9 August 2006 at 7:38AM

Pam,

If you were making payments through the CSA and found that that money was certainly not being used for the children. I would suggest that being a responsible person and of above average intelligence you would look at other methods of ensuring that the money did get used for the good of the children; hence my question.

kelloggs36 · 9 August 2006 at 11:01AM

The simple answer is that you cannot ensure that any money you give to the ex partner is spent directly on the child. The only way to do such a thing would be to pay any school fees, etc directly but they would not be taken into account as far as CSA payments are concerned unless it was for a period that they were backdating assessment for.

missk_ensington · 9 August 2006 at 11:09AM

You would proably do the same as many other self emplyed fathers in the UK - deprive their kids of money they need by pretending they barely earn anything, and your current wife must be a very unkind woman to allow you to do it.

I know, my dad was self employed Landlord of a pub and apparently never earnt more than £50 a week for 20 years because the pub was 'a duffer' (I saw the till roll on a Friday and he'd sold £3,000 of beer in one night but everyone pays for beer in cash!) His partner had a high flying job as a Director and she told CSA she had to support him from her wage cos he was so poor.

Sickens me, while they were going to South Africa, Cruises, Australia....3-4 times a year my brother and I couldn't even go on school trips because my mum couldn'ty afford the £4 ticket fee and was too proud to ask school to pay for it. Had no carpets, no clotehs, no shoes...cos he was paying £6 a week for two kids (when between them they were actually bringing in close to £100,000 a year)

Legally, you can do what you're going to do, and get away with it, but don't think for one minute your kids mother wont know what you've done and don't be suprised if your kids grow up thinking your a bawastard like I do my Dad

missk_ensington · 9 August 2006 at 11:11AM

ivagoldfish/kelloggs- are you stupid? The CSA money is to pay for a roof, gas, electric, food. How can the mother NOT use the money on this?!!!! Are you seriosly suggesting that any mother doesn't bath their kids or feed them, or put the central heating on, or use petrol to drive them to school, or buy clothes or school uniforms, or decorate their rooms?? Or is this all free and the CSA money is used on themselves?

The money is for the upkeep of the kids, the basic things kids need to survive, not for toys and treats! It is for the mother to pay her rent/mortgage and bills, not to be spent directly on the kids

fuzzyrazer · 9 August 2006 at 5:06PM

Sadly not all mums are the same,we had to watch as my hubbies ex spent very little on the kids,the girl even came to us wearing her mums shoes she used for dancing,clothes to small,she did'nt seem to care much for them,yes we paid maintance always have,and still doing so, which is right and proper, up till 1 was 18yrs,and the other till they are 19yrs.When they were little we paid.£450 a month,(reduced as they got older) i also had 2 kids too,then we had a little one of our own.I am a mum myself,i do understand how much money kids take to keep,but even today, my hubbies oldest needs a bed,she has'nt got one now ( apparantly,her words ,not mine) and her mum is refusing to buy her this. Other things,which i don't want to go into here,have happened too.....

As i said before,not all mums are good mums......

Scarlett1 · 9 August 2006 at 5:27PM

missk_ensington wrote:

The money is for the upkeep of the kids, the basic things kids need to survive, not for toys and treats! It is for the mother to pay her rent/mortgage and bills, not to be spent directly on the kids

was just going to say this but you beat me to it

It also saddens me when fathers try to find a way to pay as less maintenance as they can possibly get away with :mad:

WHA · 9 August 2006 at 5:33PM

On a more technical level, there is a very good tax reason why this wouldn't work. It is called IR35. It is a rule introduced a few years ago to stop exactly what you are trying to do, i.e. leave your day job, set up a company, and basically carry on as before. The IR35 rules were set up because it is a common tax dodge to pay dividends instead of wages to avoid NIC, but it will catch you out for the same reason. Under IR35, the company has to pay you around 90% of the income you generate for the company, as wages to you. So, no, it wouldn't work on a technical level. I'm not getting involved in the moral or other implications.

Sensemaya · 9 August 2006 at 11:42PM

I see the OP has not been back. missk_ensington has summed it up very well. My ex is a barrister...self employed...and at one stage he was assessed to pay a fiver per week. If you were your child,how would you feel about that?

ivagoldfish · 10 August 2006 at 7:26AM

Thanks to all for the 'positive' feedback. Always expected the 'moral high ground' response from those who couldn't/wouldn't reply appropriately; but finally got a direct reply from WHA.

Always interesting to hear comments from people who know nothing about your own particular situation and can't help themselves lunge at making their own assumptions.

I love 'people watching'.

And thanks again to all those who 'contributed'.

CSA and being self-employed

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