Children: Maintenance

Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the latest tax year available. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Any income subject to income tax, including bonuses and overtime received by an employed paying parent, is included within their gross weekly income when calculating a child maintenance liability.

Where a paying parent is the Director of their limited liability company, they are legally an employee of that company and are treated the same as any other employee for child maintenance purposes. If the receiving parent believes that the paying parent has additional income from dividends, they can apply for a variation to take this into account.

Variations can be requested on grounds of unearned income, where the paying parent receives extra unearned income of at least £2,500 a year. This includes rental income from property or land, dividends, and interest from savings and investments.

Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is given.

The Child Maintenance Service has committed to reviewing the child maintenance calculation to make sure it fits current and future social trends. This review looks at fairness, family relations, sustainability, compliance, simplifying rates, work progression, including unearned income and assets, and how it interacts with other policies, such as Universal Credit.