Lifestyle inconsistent with income/Diversion of income

buckaroo

My exp is a Director of his own company. According to the latest information he has sent the CSA, he has a take home salary of £420 per month, he currently gives me £300 per month and is therefore managing on £120. My assessor at the CSA agreed that it is not feasible that he is living on £120 a month and that he must have an income from somewhere else.

Since I have left him he has completely renovated his house, new windows, new kitchen, bathroom, decorated, carpeted, new conservatory, huge sloping garden levelled etc. He owns several cars, wears expensive clothes and doesn't seem to go without anything. Meanwhile I bring up 4 children in a grotty HA property with the help of child tax credits, child benefit and £300 maintenance.

He has said that he has not received any director's benefits or additional payments, so how is he managing?

A few years ago, his company became limited and from his accounts it looks as though a payment was made from the old company to the new company. Exp has said before that this money is money that was owed to him and as such it isn't income. From the accounts it looks like it is about £80 k. Can people really pay themselves huge amounts of money like this and not have to pay tax on it?

My advisor at the CSA has said that he is going to apply to the Inland Revenue for a copy of his tax return, would that payment show up do you think?

I think that the true picture would be seen if they had access to his bank accounts but no one has ever said if this is possible. I'd really appreciate it if anyone can put me straight on this.

I am a new poster, although I've done a bit of lurking. I intend to spend more time here as I really need some extra cash at the moment. TIA.

kelloggs36

How many children do you have? To be honest, you are getting quite a bit of maintenance at #300 per month - most PWCs would bite their ex's hand off for that amount. Are you sure you want to rock the boat? By giving you that amount, he is still maintainting his children. What were the your living circumstances like when you were together? Are they appearing to be vastly different now? Clearly he should be paying a fair amount, but the CSA maintenance is just an arbitary figure, personally, I would take what he is offering and keep quiet.

buckaroo

Hi Kelloggs

We have 4 children aged 9, 6, 5 and 2. I realise that £300 probably does sound quite generous but I don't claim income support. If I felt that £300 was the amount that he should be paying, then I would be more than happy to accept it. As it is, he lives in relative luxury and we live on a grotty housing estate. He refused to let me and the children remain in the house when we separated and we were homeless for several months.

All I want is what the children are entitled to. Their father has his own successful business and if he were honest about his income would have to pay more. This isn't just about the amount, although I could do with more money, it's the fact that he can evade his responsibilies because he owns his own business. I don't think it's right or fair.

kelloggs36

I know what you mean, but I would be more worried about him cutting all payments to nothing at all if you push it. This is something that you would need to take into consideration. Even if he is proved to be earnng more and diverting it away, it is notoriously difficult to prove and even more difficult to get a Tribunal to overturn an existing assessment on those grounds. You would need to provide not only the evidence that he can't counterprove plus you would need to prove what he does live on in order for them to make a new assessment. It isn't impossible, as I have managed to do this, but to be honest, most cases get thrown out.

However, the sort of info you would need to be able to provide is: Company accounts showing Directors income, a Tribunal can direct him to provide certain info, but they would need to have the doubt in their minds that he is telling the truth before they will do this. The house in which he lives, can you get the Land Registry documents which prove who owns it and how much they paid for it? The Tribunal can direct him to provide a mortgage application if they want to.

Inland Revenue accounts could hold info, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Many people who are fiddling CSA are also fiddling Inland Revenue, but some tell the Inland Revenue the truth and not the CSA, so you may get lucky. You could provide the CSA with the registration numbers of all his cars and they can apply to the DVLA for information on who owns the cars and whether there is finance outstanding on them. The CSA I believe, now have powers to approach EXPERIAN or some bodies like that in order to track people through their credit applications (may be in pipeline if they don't already have those powers). The CSA could query the 80k and ask from whence it came. It may well be on Inland Revenue accounts. If you complete a Lifestyle application, you will more than likely get it rejected. You then need to appeal against the decision - an Appeals Tribunal are the only ones who can seriously consider such applications. Once the appeal has been lodged, you and he will get copies of everything - including all the info he has provided to CSA with personal info (such as address and national insurance numbers) blanked out. You will, however get to see the accounts and what he put on his MEF which you could use to find out further information.

buckaroo

Thanks for replying Kellogg.

It's a minefield isn't it? Why does the whole thing have to be so difficult? Is it to deter PWC from making a fuss and just accepting their lot?

I don't think that exp will drop below the £300, this has been rumbling along for several years now and despite some crappy assessments, where they calculated he only had to pay me £5, he has stuck at £300.

Everynow and then he offers me a bit more if I drop my case with the CSA, tbh this annoys me even more, as it makes me wonder just what he is hiding.

I was really hoping that his accounts would be realistic this time, I really need the money at the moment. I have just had to move 2 of my children to a different school because of bullying. I'm now going to have to pay out over £100 a month in child care for my eldest and extra petrol, it's £100 I can't afford to lose.

I will read through your post again when I'm not feeling so irritated by exp and try and decide what my next move should be. Thanks again for replying.

kelloggs36

No probs. I know how frustrating it is and how weighted against the PWC it is - especially when the NRP is either Self Employed or a Director and so has the means to hide his true income if he feels the need!!