Tiddles
Member
My Ex receives most of his income as dividends from his own company. He is paid a minimum wage by his employer and the rest is by paid by his company. He puts some of his employers transactions through his own company and pays himself that way. The CSA only look at his earnings from his employer not his Ltd company. How can I get them to take the whole lot into account?
Thanks
Indeego
Member
Have you spoken to them and explained the situation, they may be able to do a variation and look into the finances in more detail?
GBR303
Member
Hi Tiddles,
The self employment route seems to be a real escape for some people. There is currently 137,700 uncleared cases for the CSA to go through.
You only need to flick through the pages on this site to see that the CSA is not the best option.....
My advise is not to get too tied up with the CSA and put your energy to better use in other areas. :)
Michael - CSAhell.com staff
Anti-CSA Warrior
The CSA can only take dividend payments into account if the person receiving them is a director of the company - that way they're responsible for making the payments (to themselves) and the payments can be classed as earnings.
If he is not a director of his company then the CSA can't touch it.
TM
Member
I have to disagree, because,
'earnings mean any remuneration or profit derived from employment'this includes 'any profit related pay' therefore, as dividends are usually some form of profit related pay ( don't know too many companies that pay dividends on losses ) this now brings dividends into play?
Therfore apply for a departure Tiddles.
I think that the old, Company Director and dividends are no longer an available loophole?
Michael - CSAhell.com staff
Anti-CSA Warrior
You miss the point TM - it's the CSA's own rules about dividends. If someone sets up a company for themselves and pays themselves a low wage, topping the rest up with dividends, then that is indeed earnings and the CSA can count it as such.
However, if someone is not a director of the company they are not responsible for dividend payments. For example, you might have shares in a company that every so often pays out dividends, then that isn't classed as income. You don't control the payments, and they're not regular.
Nicolai
Member
Oh my God, yet again 'admin' gets it wrong!
Yes the CSA can take dividends into account, regardless of wether the person is the director or an employee.
The real difficulty is getting the CSA to do the hard work involved in proving who is paying who, it is a difficult job to trace all these payments, and as a Government agency, they are not very interested in putting the hours in to trace them. In my experience, only a sound knowledge yourself, and constant badgering of the CSA gets anything done.
Can we get a new admin who actually knows what they are talking about!?
wibblewobble
Member
If you are the sole director of a firm or own more than 50% of the company, the CSA can take dividends into account.
However, if you are part of a board and own 50% or less of the company, who are jointly responsible for making dividend awards, the CSA cannot take it into account as you are not in control of the money. The other directors can waive their right to take a dividend and let you take your portion but obviously this needs to be documented in the minutes book. This is covered in the Act and on the CSA website, and even if you ask the call handlers they tell you the same.
Before you think about appointing your new partner a director, the other director cannot be "under your influence" i.e. a partner or offspring living at the same address. Friends who are professionals often are helpful
In short, make sure you own 50% or less, you have two or more directors and that your statutory members list reflects the correct allocation of shares and that companies house have all the correct particulars for the directors and annual returns.
On the plus side, and this sounds vindictive, it does stop those ex's who think that all your hard work should be spent on their holidays/extensions and new partners.
Guess who has gone through it! :)
Potter
Member
Hi Wibblewobble, i'm in the same boat and need some much needed advice, are you still on this forum..?
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