Child maintenance question

Chrispier

My child wants to start college after Christmas. He is 18. My ex paid csa1 until our son left school when it stopped. Will I need to start a new assessment when my son starts college?

My ex is now self employed and running a limited company? What powers have the child maintenance service got to look at his salary? Will they look at dividends?

HappyMJ

Chrispier wrote: »

My child wants to start college after Christmas. He is 18. My ex paid csa1 until our son left school when it stopped. Will I need to start a new assessment when my son starts college?

My ex is now self employed and running a limited company? What powers have the child maintenance service got to look at his salary? Will they look at dividends?

Is he both self employed as a sole trader and employed as an employee? He is an employee of the company being paid a salary and dividends. It will be very confusing if he is.

They have few powers at all. If he's structured his company for tax savings he'll be paying himself a very small salary to avoid paying employer national insurance contributions. They can take dividends into account. However, they can't do anything until the end of the tax year in question when full accounts have been submitted to HMRC and rely on his interim estimates. He'll most probably be taking director loans from the company during the year and at the end of the tax year the company will declare a dividend which repays the directors loans.

Chrispier

I have a feeling he has reduced his wage now we are talking about our son returning to college. If he was paying himself more since April but now dropped it, will it go on his wage when I contact child maintenance or will it go back to the start of the tax year?

DUTR

Chrispier wrote: »

I have a feeling he has reduced his wage now we are talking about our son returning to college. If he was paying himself more since April but now dropped it, will it go on his wage when I contact child maintenance or will it go back to the start of the tax year?

It's assessed on the most recent return, so 2014/15, however will the college let your lad enrol so late on in the course?
We used to have to queue to enrol and get there early as places were limited.

eve31

DUTR wrote: »

It's assessed on the most recent return, so 2014/15, however will the college let your lad enrol so late on in the course?
We used to have to queue to enrol and get there early as places were limited.

2014/2015 tax return deadline is January so not sure HMRC will have this as the latest return.

Chrispier

RWe're hoping he'll get on the course. If not, it will be September.

If my ex is now taking a lower wage, how will they assess him? Surely he could just say he no longer has the same amount of work. I think he's director of the limited company.

Chrispier

Will they go on 2013/2014 then?

Chrispier

Will they encourage us to reach our own settlement? I keep reading about this

DUTR

Chrispier wrote: »

Will they encourage us to reach our own settlement? I keep reading about this

That's with the CMS system. It's not your own settlement as I can imagine neither party will agree with the amount.

Chrispier

We will be under the cms system though won't we as csa doesn't exist anymore?

pmduk

Yes the CSA is not accepting new cases. So any new cases will be under CMS rules. Remember there is a fee for opening a new case which may/may not provide a deterrent.