Evidence for CMS variation

[justlikebuses]

Is information on companies house enough as evidence? And how do I add a figure in if I don't know the amount?
Ex is claiming a below £13k salary. Lives in a house nearly worth £1m and is currently on a skiing holiday, flew business class. Also recently got married at one of the most instagrammed country venues.
We are on our knees financially, I've had to take sick days as I couldn't afford the petrol to work. He's just dropped the salary again.
His company, of which he is the sole shareholder, is very profitable.
I know the steps will be;
Apply for variation
Appeal
Then FIU at which point lifestyle does not match income.

However, for the variation it's asking for a figure and evidence, and that I can be prosecuted if it's false information.
We've been divorced five years, I don't have access to anything other than companies house.

Can anyone help me, please?

Anyone?

Not sure but I would also report him to HMRC.

Say he appears to afford to live in a very large home, fund skiing trips and a luxurious wedding. That as the sole owner of x he appears to be living of dividends or similar.

Sounds like he is paying himself by way of dividends rather than salary and therefore only quoting salary for CMS reviews.

Can you get a copy of the company accounts, if they are registered at Companies House you can usually get abridged versions (for a small fee) and share with the CMS as evidence about total income rather than just salary

@Aligirlbear I can't see an option to pay for anything other than set-up info.
I can see micro accounts and also there are a couple of years where full accounts are in there.
He is PAYE through the company and is the only employee. His company had shareholder funds of £210k at last submission. During 2021 his cash in hand figure was over £100k.

Can I submit a word doc with my reasons to believe his lifestyle does not match income?

It's worth trying for sure.its a very long time since I went through the process

Just give a figure that you believe he is drawing as dividends for an unearned income variation. It is probably also worth raising a diversion of income too at the same time. The evidence from companies house that he is a director, will be sufficient to show that he has the ability to draw dividends for the unearned income variation and that as a director has the ability to control his income for diversion of income.

I'll add a figure that would take him to min wage to start with.
With regard to the diversion of income, would pension contributions and claiming everything (even weekends away) count do you know?

Yes whatever you like for that. They can only use the dividends that have declared to HMRC, so they will use the link they have with HMRC to obtain that. If HMRC hold no dividends then the variation will be refused.

For diversion, pension can be included if you believe he is putting substantial amounts in and that's why his earned income is showing lower. In reality it's probably just the amount that most directors take without paying tax. There may be legitimate expenses that HMRC allow to be offset against the company, so potentially some business expenses wouldn't be seen as diverting. However once you have had these (regardless of the outcome) it gives you the opportunity to request an Mandatory Reconsideration and then take both decisions to appeal.

These men are just so evil and wicked
They really DO NOT care if their flesh and blood children suffer. I'm dealing with one like this as well 💔. Lord help me 🙏🏿

you can attach a document via the portal with narrative explaining why you are requesting the variation but save it as a pdf first as it doesn't allow a word doc alone to be uploaded.

i've attached links to exes website showing his very lucrative work for international clients and the moron has also date stamped them!

he's claiming he earns £8k a year when his daily rate is £300 minimum.

10 years i've been at it, it's like cat and mouse.

but i won't give up and when the time is right, the children will know he did everything he could to avoid paying and they can see i do everything i can to provide for them.

If he has a limited company, it will be very difficult.

So submit your variations on the grounds of unearned income (eg dividends) and also diversion of income. In relation to the diversion of income ground, send all of the companies house information to CMS and explain how income may be diverted and how his lifestyle does not reflect current earned income.

Contrary to what someone stated above, if there are profits retained that are available for distribution (that haven’t been dividended but could be) then this can be diversion of income. Also, if any pensions are paid into then they need to be a reasonable sum relative to the declared minimum income (so only £4K max if earning £12k usually).

Although lifestyle grounds aren’t a standalone reason for variation anymore, they are still relevant for diversion of income claims.

My understanding is that you should keep going until you get your MC notice then apply to tribunal (within 30 days) where a financially qualified person will be on the panel. Complex situations are dealt better by the tribunal than CMS.

Unearned income was rejected (unsurprisingly given the difficulty in uploading the documents). I haven't received reasonings letter yet.
I'll do a diversion variation next and go from there.
Do we know if humans look at this or is it all AI filters to start?

It will have been looked at a human caseworker. HMRC must not hold any unwanted income for him, which is why it's been rejected. If any unearned income over £2500 had been declared to HMRC, then this would have been used rather than being rejected.

@Sparkle123r even if the helpline was closed? I uploaded all docs during the times the helpline was closed for Christmas and it was rejected over this last weekend.

Years ago, I was getting CM via the CMS at a rate of £6 a week, (when my ex hadn't taken out loans using his benefits as payment). His new girlfriend got in touch with me and told me he was actually working and getting money paid into a different bank account. She was sick of him gloating about getting by without paying for his son. She gave me the name of his business, the details of his bank account and also the premises address he was working out of. I reported it to HMRC, DWP and CMS.

They refused (all three organisations) to investigate it. Absolutely useless. Sorry OP but I don't hold out any hope.

It could be the case that no dividends have been declared. Do your diversion of income variation application (state that substantial shareholder finds/retained profits are not being dividended out, plus lifestyle not commensurate with a 13k salary and no dividend payments).

Also submit the assets variation ground (where a notional 8% income is deemed on any assets (savings, property (apart from primary residence), cars, shares, above 31k in each category etc)) as well given you now have evidence that no dividends have been paid, and his lifestyle is not commensurate with just a 13k salary. You may wish to state he has a substantial amount in shareholders funds so has share capital in excess of 31k (so this should be considered an asset with a notional 8%) as an alternative to diversion of income (retaining it in the company).

Keep screenshots and copies of everything you send in to CMS and notes of any calls.

Take it to tribunal once you have your mandatory reconsideration notices - CMS don’t have the resources to understand complex corporate structures and it is better suited to be considered by a judge/financial expert. The form is fairly easy to apply to tribunal and you don’t need legal representation.

It was rejected because he didn't respond, and neither did HMRC. So do I just apply again 🤷‍♀️ I think I'll do that and also a diversion of income just to be sure 😵‍💫

Can you review him on LinkedIn as being a cunt but in more appropriate wording? I would be sending copies of your cms payments to his friends and family....

I like that idea 😂
Obviously I don't have the guts to do it.... but I like it!