CSA say Ex not entitled to pay towards son as he doesn’t pay tax on his £45k income

[BethN94]

I split with the father to my 4 year old son 3 years ago due to continued controlling behaviour. My ex works on super yachts all over the world and is entitled to “seafarers tax reduction”, meaning he does not pay tax on his income. Because of his job I have our son full time and he has him for a 10 day period every 3 months or so (we now live 6 hours apart).

Initially we made an arrangement for maintenance payments between us but following many months of him saying he won’t pay this month as he was not happy with something I had done, I went through CSA as I could not deal with this constant stress of not knowing if he would be upset by something I did or said and wouldn’t pay that month (continued control).

CSA initially calculated it but following an appeal from my ex they changed their mind as said that because it is calculated on “taxable” income and because he doesn’t pay tax, he owes £0. So his income is £45,000+ (he gets lots of tips so it is far more than that really) but his “taxable income is £0.

he has also not paid a penny towards any childcare costs over the last 3 years. I work as a midwife and rely on nursery to be able to continue to work. He says that our son is at nursery because I work and therefore it’s nothing to do with him even though he also works.

Any advise? I tried to appeal this through CSA but there is nothing they can do.
Would a court look in to this and order that he paid towards his son outside of the CSA system? And would they order that he paid towards childcare?

I’m really struggling to stay on my feet with the current cost of living and doing my very best whilst he loves the high life!

Unfortunately CSA is only able to claim from parents who work, and are taxed, in the UK. My friend’s ex lives and works in Dubai, he is a multi-millionaire but she receives nothing from him for their 4 children as he is not in the UK. She didn’t receive anything when they divorced either, again he wasn’t in the UK and neither were his assets. It’s an awful situation and unfair that he is able to get away without paying but if he isn’t paying tax in the UK I don’t believe there will be anything CSA can do. It’s possible a court can make an order for child maintenance but you would probably be best getting information from a solicitor over mumsnet to find out if this is possible, especially given he is not classed as having a taxable UK income.

sorry op I’ve nothing helpful to add.
but it is such bull shit really. If you refused to spend any money on your child it would (rightly) be neglect. Why do they get a free pass on it?

He lives in the UK but obviously chooses to work abroad because he knows he doesn’t have to pay tax. However we still own a house together in the UK, which I have gone through the courts to force the sale of the property as he was refusing to buy me out or sell it- he had moved back in to the property and I moved back home to be close to family for support but then found he was renting it out and no longer lives in it anyway). I will seek legal advice thank you! Just wondered if anyone had been through similar

I think there should be a special circle of hell for men who go to significant lengths to avoid properly supporting their children, deliberately leaving the emotional, practical and financial toil to the mums. And the CSA is often Bob Useless.

Nothing of any use to add OP except i feel for you and hope you can get good legal advice to put a stop to his games.

Under those circumstances I'd refuse to let him take DC every few months.

Not a family law person, but my lawyer when me and ex split advised that a judge would require him to make payments based on actual income, not declared income / what was taxed in the uk (he was paid via his own overseas company and hid his income). It took a lot but she managed to get maintenance out of him at a higher level than he had planned or than CSA required, it was worth the cost to me anyway because he was being awful, but the extra money helped a lot! (He stopped paying a few years ago but that’s a whole other story).

I may be wrong - no expert - but if he rented out the house, he should have had to do a self assessment tax return to declare that income. No idea if that helps, but it may give you a new line of enquiry. . .

Yes I was going to say the same. The rental income is taxable income in the UK.Has he disclosed this to the CSA (or HMRC !) ? Do the mortgage company know?

To OP

Sounds like your ex is considered non-resident for tax f they have qualified for the seafarers allowance which may have confused the CMS. If he is paid by a UK registered company the CMS should be able to make an assessment. However, if he is paid be a company registered outside the UK, then the CMS may be unable to make an assessment.

If you can prove his earnings, maybe try for a court order. Gross earnings of 45K would produce a weekly maintenance amount of Approx. £101.

As an ex seafarer I used a company called Sea tax to sort out my tax affairs if I'd been working offshore abroad. They are well versed in all things that apply to seafarer tax liabilities. Might be a long shot but they might be able to give you some advice on where/how you could claim from your ex.https://www.sktax.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpNuyBhCuARIsANJqL9N4NhLiIcGGwUAPMWFFq86XRN61LaXf3bqJeA41sWqCJ-JD4cgdMqoaAufYEALw_wcB

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/family-law/ewg7o-work-seafarer-pay-paye-tax-uk-claim.html

I would read the full rules and make sure you think he is eligible as you can always report him to HMRC for tax evasion if you think he doesn’t qualify for the relief

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/seafarers-earnings-deduction-tax-relief-if-you-work-on-a-ship

Also write to your MP. But I would look at speaking to a solicitor and finding out if a court could do anything.

You need to tell his mum
And tell him you will tell all his friends

That's your only option until he's back on dry land

Then she gets no break and the child doesn't get its right to know its father honoured. This is not ethical advice for the child.

Don't you get any of the rental income if you also own the property?

Half of the rental.income should be yours. You can report rental income to CMS.

The father doesn't give a fuck about his DC. He wants him to grow up in poverty. Why would you honour a useless father like this? Odd choice of word you chose, 'honoured' imho. He has no honour.

he has also not paid a penny towards any childcare costs over the last 3 years. I work as a midwife and rely on nursery to be able to continue to work. He says that our son is at nursery because I work and therefore it’s nothing to do with him even though he also works

Unfortunately childcare costs are the full responsibility and to be paid by the parent who puts them in that childcare otherwise you could decide you want a really expensive nursery/nanny and he would have to pay towards it.

Your best bet is to ensure he has some UK based income you can make a claim against.

You have my sympathies, I brought up two without a penny from their ‘ father’ abroad. All grown up now and they know how I worked to support them, he never even gets mentioned. On the good side there was no trouble or interference from a Pratt. Luckily daughters have both settled for decent men and have good careers and are on the property ladder. I am an involved Grandma