Self employment and csa

pugger

Hi all. I realise there are plenty of threads on here already like this but I can't find any that answer my questions. Within the next 6 months I'm going to be self employed; I already pay csa by direct order but I'm wondering how they will calculate what I have to pay when I switch over to self employment? Also I've read they include any capital spending in the assessment, would they do this with pre tax expenditure too? Thanks.

DUTR

What is it you are asking? In six months or whatever when your cisrcumstances change then you can inform them and they will re-assess you accordingly. Often they wait for a years worth of accounts , so you may get a nil or low assesment as from other posts the don't like to deal with self employed.

pugger

I'm just panicking as with self employment there will be no set/guaranteed income and it will vary every month. I'm struggling to see how they can assess me when the business would be in its very early days. Sorry if I'm not making sense, I know what I'm trying to say but I'm struggling to put it across.

DUTR

pugger wrote: »

I'm just panicking as with self employment there will be no set/guaranteed income and it will vary every month. I'm struggling to see how they can assess me when the business would be in its very early days. Sorry if I'm not making sense, I know what I'm trying to say but I'm struggling to put it across.

Well, as mentioned they may assess at nil, or on a predicted amount, after all , you still have your basic survival needs to meet which also cost money, no good working on an empty stomach unwashed sleeping on the streets :eek:

pugger

Going by some of the stories it seems you never know with the csa! This is a quote from Direct.gov "If the non-resident parent is self-employed, we usually work out their average weekly earnings from the most recent tax year. If we can't, perhaps because they have only recently started self-employed work, we will use details of the gross income of the business- this means all the money it has earned". This is the bit that confuses me (or maybe I'm just stupid lol). If I declare self employment to them as soon as I start how can they use my gross income to work it out, or as you said, will they just zero rate or low assess? I've read too many horror stories about the csa so I'm trying to fully understand how it all works so I don't end up owing them.

DUTR

pugger wrote: »

Going by some of the stories it seems you never know with the csa! This is a quote from Direct.gov "If the non-resident parent is self-employed, we usually work out their average weekly earnings from the most recent tax year. If we can't, perhaps because they have only recently started self-employed work, we will use details of the gross income of the business- this means all the money it has earned". This is the bit that confuses me (or maybe I'm just stupid lol). If I declare self employment to them as soon as I start how can they use my gross income to work it out, or as you said, will they just zero rate or low assess? I've read too many horror stories about the csa so I'm trying to fully understand how it all works so I don't end up owing them.

From other threads you may well pay very little or nothing, however I suppose you can contribute the emergency rate which is about 30gbp per child per week.

pugger

Ok, thanks a lot for your help. I don't suppose you have any idea about my other question, whether they use pre tax expenditure as part of the assessment?

DUTR

pugger wrote: »

Ok, thanks a lot for your help. I don't suppose you have any idea about my other question, whether they use pre tax expenditure as part of the assessment?

Sadly I don't , but many complaints are from PWCs who's NRP are self employed and they get little or nothing, and the beat up escort is magiclly a sports car and the social housing flat becomes a penthouse apartment.
However continue to make CS contributions, as these unfortunate kids are the adults of tomorrow and we all need to nurture them to be intelligent and employable not enter the adult world feeling the world owes them and success is appearing on x factor.
Of course good luck with the business venture.

pugger

Agree with you completely. I resent the CSA system but I've always paid without fail and was paying consistently before they got involved.

DUTR

pugger wrote: »

Agree with you completely. I resent the CSA system but I've always paid without fail and was paying consistently before they got involved.

TBH I don't resent it in principle, the CSA1 system I feel was more designed to prevent 'ordinary' couples parting in the 1st place, CSA2 is a fairer and workable system for many , not sure about CSA3, CSA has certainley saved bullying and abuse to me as an NRP and many that are in the system that I know, but every case/circumstance is individual.

pugger

I'm not sure what system I'm on, not the first one though. I'm 100% behind NRP's paying their way, I just don't like the way csa doesn't consider the NRP's circumstances after the split. In my case my ex was cheating with my best friend behind my back and when I found out they ran hundreds of miles away. She deprived me of seeing my daughter for a year, only legal threats sorted it in the end (cost me 2.5k, she got legal aid.....) I paid her from my bank into her account all that time then out of spite she got the CSA involved because she lost on the legal side. I've still got to pay all the travel costs to see my daughter every 6 weeks though. Sorry for the rant, I just hate seeing decent people who only want the best for their children getting shafted.