Tax Dodger And Benefit Fraudster?

The Child Maintenance Service calculates a paying parents child support payment schedule using their income data from HMRC, and uses official information as much as possible.  This means that the income is historic, ie normally from the last previous full tax year, or the tax year prior to that.  This generally means that when a case is opened, CMS can use tax income data to make an assessment, meaning the paying parent does not have to provide proof of income.  

Taxable Income data is provided by HMRC.  Benefit data is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).  This is provided automatically by those departments.

However there are some parents that still operate on a "cash in hand" basis in order to avoid paying taxes to HMRC.  This means that the government does not receive money to pay for vital services such as the NHS, Schools or the Armed Forces.  It also means that a parent is denied child maintenance and potentially a child suffers.  If someone is not declaring their income, HMRC are the body that this should be reported to, not CMS.  

Other parents may claim benefits whilst working in order to reduce CMS liability.  If they are working, but claiming benefits, DWP are the agency to contact.  

Al Capone the American untouchable gangster was not jailed for the extortion, or the smuggling or the murders that he was responsible for.  He was jailed for tax evasion.  

In the UK It's rare to be prosecuted or sent to prison for tax evasion, which is good for the receiving parent as the paying parent does not have to pay a penny whilst in prison!  

However HMRC are not a soft touch, and can take further enforcement action if someone fails to pay their taxes, or fails to make an agreement with them to pay it. 

HMRC will try other options, such as taking possessions, including vehicles, to sell at auction (called 'distraint').  This also means that once it is established there is a tax liability due to income, the CMS are able to obtain that figure and calculate maintenance.  In turn the CMS will also be able to take enforcement action.

You should never make a false report to an agency, as the penalties could be severe and it could be construed as harassment.  However if you know someone is trying to avoid their child support obligation or child maintenance by an illegal method, you can report as follows.

Report to HMRC that someone is avoiding tax

Are they doing jobs cash in hand?  Not declaring income

Report via this website:  Report-an-unregistered-trader-or-business

Report to HMRC that an employer is paying a parent cash in hand

An employer paying cash is not breaking the law, provided the person receiving, receives a payslip and the tax and NI are paid.  However some employers will pay cash in hand, to avoid paying employers National Insurance and forwarding the taxes.  It also means they dont have to provide a pension or paid holidays if the employee doesnt exist.

This is a clear breach of law, paying cash to avoid employer National Insurance, rips off the rest of us, that have to pay National Insurance.

More details can be found at

The HMRC Fraud Line Here.

Contact the HMRC Fraud hotline free on 0800 788 887

Report to a Local Authority

By virtue of claiming to be unemployed, some parents will therefore claim benefits from the local authority.  This sadly can mean that the CMS will accept that someone is not working as they are claiming benefits such as housing benefit.  This should be reported to your local council.  If the council are paying a landlord direct, that will mean that the payments will stop, and the parent may have to pay any arrears direct to the landlord or be evicted.

Report Benefit Fraud

If someone is claiming to not work, but also claiming universal credit you can report that to the DWP via the National Benefit Fraud Hotline

Contact: 0800 854 440

Textphone: 0800 328 0512

Or write to them at: 
National Benefit Fraud Hotline
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2BP

If a paying parent cannot account for their earnings, they may be earning money through criminal activity.  You can also try asking the CMS to raise a Criminal Activity Report internally.  

If you are a paying parent, and the issue involves child benefit, please see the post at https://childmaintenancehelp.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-report-child-benefit-fraud.html

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#ChildSupport

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#HMRC

#DWP

#BenefitFraud

#CashInHand

#ChildWelfare

#Parenting

#FamilyLaw

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#LegalAdvice

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#ChildSupportEnforcement

Shared Care and the Covid19 Pandemic

My recent contact with the Child Maintenance Service, and also contact with other parents, has made it clear that no one really knows what the policy is on shared care, and more importantly, what defines a temporary or permanent change, and how it was determined that it was due to Coronavirus known as Covid19.

  
So I thought I would try to get an answer from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

I made a Freedom of Information request to the DWP on 23 July 2020, and I received a response dated 7 August.  I wanted to find out what guidance had been issued concerning Covid 19 and shared care.

DWP Response

"No procedures specifically relating to the calculation of shared care occurred as a result of Covid19.  However in supporting the Department for Work and Pensions during the pandemic, the actioning of circumstances relating to children were restricted to death of a child and adoption.  Other change of circumstances reported would be actioned once we were able to return to full service, should it be reported that this was a permanent change.  Where the change was temporary, due to Covid 19, case workers were provided with the following Line to Take to customer enquiries:

If your shared care arrangements have changed temporarily due Coronavirus we would not be able to make any changes to the amount of child maintenance you pay.  This is because this change in care is temporary.

If this change in care arrangements continues into a longer-term arrangement, please tell us.

Similarly, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Summary advised:

If the change to a shared care arrangement is temporarily changed because of the Coronavirus or lockdown, then this should not be accepted.  If the change is not a result of the Coronavirus, then business as usual processs should be followed."

The DWP response then defined Shared care.

"Shared care is based on the number of nights for which the non-resident parent is expected to have overnight care during the 12 months beginning with the effective date of the maintenance calculation."

Thoughts

There is no indication on a policy that defines temporary.  So as any parent could be concerned, that could be 5 days or 5 years.  Parents are being left to the mercy of whoever makes the decision.  It is clear that two different case workers could make opposite decisions, based on the same evidence.

In order to clarify I am going back to the DWP to obtain their definition of temporary, because the dictionary definition of temporary is "lasting for a limited period of time".

Further Reading

Child Maintenance A Guide for Parents

What is Child Maintenance

In the UK, there is actually no legal requirement to pay child support (although of course, there is a moral arguement) and many parents come up with their own agreement.  This could take the form of parents absorbing their own costs when the child is in their care, or one party paying for things, whilst another person contributes another way.  The vast majority of seperated families, do not use the Child Maintenance Service.  

However in cases where thats not possible there are three ways to obtain child support payments.  All three methods impose legal commitments on one parent to provide child support to the other parent.  

Options for child support are:

1.    Apply to court if paying parent earns over £156,000 per year.

2.    Agree via a divorce consent order.

3.    Apply to the Child Maintenance Service.

In order to try to keep child maintenance out of the courts, courts do not deal with child maintenance below earnings of £3000 per week, equivalent to £156,000 per year.  So most families cant go to court, and are directed to the Child Maintenance Service instead.  If you are divorcing, or seeking court maintenance payments, you should probably seek advice from a divorce law firm.  CMS costs £20 to set up.  A fraction of what the best divorce lawyers would charge.

Many years ago the government introduced the Child Support Agency to administer child support.  The Child Support Agency does not exist any more, so its not possible to apply for CSA maintenance, only CMS maintenance.  (The schemes are different).

The current government department that deals with child maintenance is the Child Maintenance Service.  Shortened to CMS, the CMS can only deal with child maintenance.  It cannot produce a spousal support calculation, that would have to go to court.

If parents cannot agreee on child support, they can go to the Child maintenance Service.  Who are able to make financial arrangements for child support.  Often called the CMS, it is part of the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain, and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. 

Parents do not have to use the Child Maintenance Service, and could probably make life a lot easier if they didnt.  Parents can make their own arrangements, and do not have to tell or get the Child Maintenance Service involved.  The CMS do however have a calculator on their website that can be used to work out a child maintenance figure when parents dont use the service.   The CMS is responsible for implementing various laws concerning child support, and can pursue parents that don't pay child support.  Child support is payable until the child is 16, or until they are 20, if they are in school or at college full time.  A child over 16 that is, or has ever been married or in a civil partnership is no longer a qualifying child for child maintenance purposes.  People often refer to The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) as the CSA or Child Support Agency.  The CSA was the name given to a former agency, and that name is no longer used.  In some cases where there are outstanding CSA arrears, the CMS may be able to collect. When the CMS service is used, payments can be made using either the collect and pay service or the direct pay service. 

Direct Pay 

The CMS work out an annual payment plan that is reviewed each year which is primarily based on the gross earnings of the parent without care, with allowances made for pension contributions and regular care.  The paying parent then pays that money to the receiving parent as per the schedule worked out by the CMS.  Around 350,000 children have their maintenance paid using a direct pay arrangement.  Direct pay is free for both parents to use as the parents pay direct to each other.  The best way to do this is by a bank standing order.   The paying parent must keep to the payment schedule or they may be placed on a Deduction from Earnings Order. 

 

Collect and Pay 

The CMS collect the payment from the paying parent and pay it to the receiving parent.  Collect and Pay is not a free service, both parents pay.  They charge the paying parent 20 per cent, and charge the receiving parent 4 per cent.   Either parent can open a case with the CMS, although it is normally the receiving parent that starts the process.  The CMS will open a case and write to the other party advising them that they are the subject of a child maintenance claim.  Within three weeks they produce and assessment and the Non Resident Parent (NRP) is expected to begin payments. Where possible, it is strongly recommended that parents save money and use a direct pay arrangement.  It is better for the child if that the money goes to the receiving parent rather then being used to pay the CMS charges. Between June 2014 and March 2016 the Government received £11,298,200 in charges from parents on the Collect and pay Scheme.

Opening a Case

To open a CMS case, you need to contact Child maintenance Options, who will assess you, via chat to see if you should use the CMS.  Contact details for Child Maintenance Options and the CMS are here.

Contacting the Child Maintenance Service

Be the Moon, if not the Sun

Today a friend posted on their blog.

Everyone wants to be the sun to lighten up someone's life, But why not be the moon to brighten in the darkest hour.

This has got me thinking.

This blog is about Child Maintenance, in particular dealing with the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) in the United Kingdom.

As a paying parent I set up this blog because I have found the CMS to be shocking to deal with.

It is not just the paying parents, its the receiving parents that are also losing out.  Paying parents are being chased for money they havent got, and receiving parents are not getting the money to support the children.

This has to change.

I will be a part of that change.

If I can help someone, then maybe they wont be driven to extreme limits.  Maybe they wont take their own life as many have done over child maintenance.

Let me be your moon, in your darkest hour, I will try to shine like the moon, so that you can find you way, so that you can be the sun to lighten up your children's lives.