Can someone settle this Child maintenance debate?

[SpongebobNoPants]

Ex and I have a private agreement for CM, not through the CMS.
He is a contractor working in the IT sector getting paid £33k annually.
He is arguing that CM is based off his net income of £25k but I’m 99% sure it goes off gross income regardless of whether you’re on a fixed term contract or full time employee.

I’ve googled it but I’m not getting a clear answer. Can someone with more knowledge clarify?
I thought bonuses / over time / shift allowance was included in the gross amount also

We live 5 mins away from each other (2 miles as the crow flies) and I can’t imagine what expenses he could be incurring working 15 mins from the office and WFH more than 50% of the time

It's awful that he never contributes to additional large expenses. I get £150pm but a contribution towards any large expenses. This thread has inspired me to request more each month though as I am struggling now everything has gone up

Oh he sounds like a right peach. It took my ex 11 years to properly start paying CM, even then it's basic, and he doesn't pay for anything else additional - not even bunging his son a bit of pocket money occasionally.

I'd go through CMS op

Absolutely - and then some!

Well that snapshot you shared shows that basically he is working backwards, taking his net wage and using a PAYE calculator to work out the gross if he was employed and bases the CM on that.

CMS ask for income before tax but after pension, which would be turnover minus expenses ( including pension) = profit which is the taxable income. However those total taxes on that snapshot are what he would pay tax AND NI if he were on PAYE.

Those figures are smoke and mirrors and don’t add up. I mean how does he get 33k down to 20k on those expenses and then still pay 7k taxes 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why don't you just go through CMS? Sounds like you're both working yourselves up over how much he owes you and the CMS will just give you a definite figure and recalculate it if his wages go up or down.

Saves on the drama.

Tax free childcare doesn't work the way you've described. Its a bank account that the government top up by 20%. I used to to pay £24 a week term time school wraparound. I put in about £20, the government added the 20% to it then I paid school from this account. No minimum. Have another look at it as it does help. There was no rules about how long they had to be in it or consecutive weeks

Thing is, CMS , even when applied correctly is still, in most cases, an unequal contribution. They are very careful NOT to specify what it should go toward, what counts as "essentials" which leaves both RP and NRP to figure it out themselves and argue over it which often poisons any co-parenting attempts. I think some NRPs who only do eow or less simply don't think about the reality of saying to a child that they can't do their hobby, or go on the trip that the whole year group is going on so they see it as non essential and refuse to contribute, leaving the RP to find the full amount because it really ISN'T an option to say to my Yr 6 child they can't go on the end of year residential with the matching hoodies etc that literally the whole class is going on.

OP, the CMS amount is reduced for the nights he has him because it assumes he will be providing clothes, toiletries etc in that time. It is absolutely fine to say you are no longer doing that. Mine now take a small bag with their own choice of toy, book etc but he provides clothes, toothbrushes etc as literally every single time they went stuff got wrecked or lost or forgotten.

Are the holiday school clubs registered? If the £250 barely covers wraparound care how is it not worth claiming for £40 or £50 a month? Unless your child is over 12 or DH is earning 70k or so?

Thanks so much! I’ll have a look into it!

Stop providing 'things' for your child in his dad's care.
It's his job to do that...stop packing that bag, and washing stuff when he returns. A toy and cuddly maybe, but clothes and toiletries no. He can provide those! And definitely no medicine or nappies!

I think I can claim the tax free childcare as the PP suggested.
I can’t claim UC as I earn too much according to the “entitled to” page and I’m on £35k per annum.
DH is on £47k but has his own 2 children whom he pays for etc. We have a joint account that we put agreed amounts into for the household expenses but then we have split finances for the remainder so we don’t spend money on each other’s kids. Works for us.

Like I said, I’m not struggling financially I just think it’s unfair that my ex and I earn roughly the same amount but he expects me to cover almost all of the expenses related to our son.

Weekly childcare is £60 at the wraparound care at school (yes they’re registered), so after that is paid which simply puts me on a level playing field with him in terms of being able to work full time, it leaves £10 CM to cover all his expenses for 24 days a month. It’s ridiculous when you think about it.
I never ask him to help out with additional expenses, because like today… he was enraged at the suggestion he might pay for a £10 haircut! Oh the audacity!

Its gross

Please just go through CMS. Take back control.

Sorry, I can't read that screenshot properly but it doesn't look right from what I can read. Can you type it out?

I assume that he is claiming the IR35 5% expenses allowance of £1650, probably because he can rather than because they are real expenses.

I can't work out which of the calculators on that site he is using either to check that he is using the correct one.

Is he deducting employers NI from the £33k and the 5% expenses allowance to calculate what his gross salary would be if he were employed with the same net pay? That might actually be allowed, although a bit cheeky if his actual expenses are less than 5%. You need to ask the CMS.

Rather than a screenshot of a calculator that he can type anything into, I would be asking to see payslips (IR35) or his self assessment form (if self employed).

FWIW, am mildly sceptical at a contractor being paid £33k gross. If inside IR35 and using an umbrella then there might not be the limited company expenses on which some guidance might be based and any gross rate might be equivalent to a gross salary. Would be tempted to go through CMS to see if he is being honest about income.

He’s lying bout his salary, that screenshot is of an online calculator, I wouldn’t put it past him to have pulled that figure out of his ass.

He sounds like he’s an employee not a contractor.
l’ve asked DH as he’s been an actuarial contractor for 10+ years and your ex’s expenses seem high. Apparently only travel to an office other than the one your contract says is generally counted. DH’s employers also asked him to provide his own computer.

This would frustrate the hell out of me too. I’d be tempted to go through the CMS as well.

That calculator is just an online calculator anyone could put any numbers into and it would spit out a figure. On a salary of 33k it is HIGHLY unlikely he would be a genuine contractor, therefore it means he is likely a salaried employee with PAYE deducted at source. As other posters have said, there’s also a very real chance he’s lying about his income.

He’s having you on here OP, please don’t fall for this rubbish, tell him you’ve looked into the legislation and will therefore be contacting the CMS as he is underpaying.

No wonder he is your ex.
As soon as your child is old enough reduce all your contact with your ex, it will be much better for you. What a tit.

Yes definitely do this. It was so liberating when DS became old enough to sort out his own time with his Dad. When DS turned 18 last year I had an internal party that dealing with his Dad was over

If he only works for one client, under IR35, he isn't self employed. He will have to pay tax through PAYE.
This is incorrect.

The IR35 reference is a red herring and entirely irrelevant.

Also contractors can earn very substantial amounts particularly in the IT sector where it's common place to use the services of a contractor vs hire employees. And a contractor can work for one client without being an employee. Either way these factors are totally irrelevant to OP's question ref CMS. He earns 33K so CMS is due on that minus pension contributions (assuming he pays into a pension).

Even if he’s not the brightest spark, I find it really hard believe he only earns that as an IT contractor. Unless he works a couple of days a week or something.

I’ve worked with men who make you wonder how they dress themselves in the morning I don’t think any of them have ever earned that little as contractors.

I get that you’re pissed off that he is calculating how he can pay the minimum and won’t even pay for a haircut. I know it’s all the same pot but you’re choosing to use the cm for childcare costs but you would have to pay these even if he gave zero cm.

I think the child care costs come out of your income as they are an expense related to your employment. You then have £250 cm for other costs such as clothing, school trips, haircuts etc.