Challenging CMS?

[piersoa]

Has anyone successfully challenged CMS and had their payments changed?

I moved from CSA to CMS in November of last year. I'd already seen some of the hideous changes coming (ie. gross vs net) and taken action to get rid of my company car, most of my health benefits etc. as these are all taxable incomes, and have even taken a job in my company that pays a bit less ... having done all that and submitted my pay slips, CMS of course ignored my payslips and went with my previous years tax records (when I had the car etc), because my income has gone down 24%, not 25%!!

My argument is, that this is a new case for them, so they should be working out my payments from day one, on my income on day one. I've done my first round of appeals and simply got a letter back stating that my income has not changed more than 25% so my payments do not change.

So, with CSA I was paying £656, now with CMS I am paying £1113 per month!! 

Now, I have absolutely no problem paying for my children (despite my ex-wife playing the game, successfully getting around court orders and me not ever getting to see them, but that is another story) ... but this is getting to be a joke! Gone from 25% of my net earnings to 40% now. 

Anyone got any success stories and tips of doing something about this at all? Or am I just at the mercy of a very broken system?

Thanks all

Austin

[MarkR]

(02-08-2017, 08:58 AM)piersoa Wrote: Has anyone successfully challenged CMS and had their payments changed?

I moved from CSA to CMS in November of last year. I'd already seen some of the hideous changes coming (ie. gross vs net) and taken action to get rid of my company car, most of my health benefits etc. as these are all taxable incomes, and have even taken a job in my company that pays a bit less ... having done all that and submitted my pay slips, CMS of course ignored my payslips and went with my previous years tax records (when I had the car etc), because my income has gone down 24%, not 25%!!

My argument is, that this is a new case for them, so they should be working out my payments from day one, on my income on day one. I've done my first round of appeals and simply got a letter back stating that my income has not changed more than 25% so my payments do not change.

So, with CSA I was paying £656, now with CMS I am paying £1113 per month!! 

Now, I have absolutely no problem paying for my children (despite my ex-wife playing the game, successfully getting around court orders and me not ever getting to see them, but that is another story) ... but this is getting to be a joke! Gone from 25% of my net earnings to 40% now. 

Anyone got any success stories and tips of doing something about this at all? Or am I just at the mercy of a very broken system?

Thanks all

Austin

Regardless of if this is a new case or not, the starting point is always P60 or Self Assessment Gross Profit for the last tax year when CMS are involved.

Like what has happened in your case, they have changed the income considered, to take into account "Benefit in Kind".

Outside of the normal recalculation what takes place every year once your tax details are known, there is only 2 ways you can get a claim looked at again.

a, If your income changes by 25% either way. (If CMS discover an increase of 25% what goes unreported, they on doing the yearly recalculation they will backdate the increase to the start of that tax year, creating an overpayment what needs to be paid).

b, If you go onto a Qualifying Benefit, for example JSA/ESA.

For the benefit of anyone reading this, should your Qualifying Benefit end, you can still get a reduction if your revised estimated income for that tax year is 25% down on the year before, so you should inform them soon as it does of the claim ending, and your expected income that tax year as a result.

In your situation, you need to contact them soon as the current tax year ends, with your P60 or Self Assessment Gross Profit, as your payments should go down from 6th April, and they will stay that way unless in the next tax year either A or B happens.