Closed petition Child maintenance loop hole for self employed parent

Closed on 30 March 2015

Self Employed: Avoiding Child Maintenance Payments

Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions

To develop a system which gives the CSA more power to investigate those who are self employed and manage to avoid paying the correct amount of child maintenance.

A self employed person can say they are only paying themselves a salary of less than £100 per week, out of their business. Not only is that person not paying any tax or national insurance contributions in the UK due to the stated low income, they are making a mockery of the government.

The loophole in the system needs addressing in order to provide justice and fairness, not only for the resident parents, but also for those non-resident parents that declare their incomes and pay the correct amount of maintenance for their children. A tougher system needs to be implemented to stop those who are determined to find a way to shirk financial responsibility for their children.