Csa help please ??????

Question

Hello

I wondered if you could help.

I am the nrp. I wondered I have always (for 13 years) paid CSA payments and last week the postie dropped a letter through my door from the CSA saying they were putting up payments to clear off arreas 9k

I havent a clue where the arreas have come from but they said I can ask for a breakdown and appeal in writing, which I intend to do. My only question/concern was -

if I appeal, will they ask the tax office for my earnings and sting me even more!??

Cheers for the help.

Answer 1

I would start your appeal asap .you only have a few weeks to do this .I have been through the same thing with my husband but because they were so slow dealing with things they said it was too late to appeal .Believe me they do things so slow so the time runs out and then they blame you for . Or go and see you MP .he might be able to help . The system they have in place is so against the nrp so dont get your hopes up .I wish you luck anyway .They already know how much tax you pay ( unless you havent declared it all )They have access to everything  

Answer 2

If you appeal they will try and find any piece of information they can to prove there case, they can't sting you even more if you haven't done anything wrong and told them every change in circumstances, increase in wages, decrease in the amount of time your child spends overnight with you etc... But if you do appeal they will try there best to get the appeal denied. I wouldn't suggest it if you have any doubt that you don't owe the money whether by mistake or not!

Answer 3

Firstly you must appeal quickly as there is only 28 days window to do so.

You have done the right thing in asking for a breakdown. However it seems that the CSA often have problems producing it. If you have paid what they asked for when they asked for it then the problem may lie with them. Often once they are chased the arrears magically reduce or even disappear. If you have paid without fail then it is very hard to see where the arrears come from so that breakdown is required and check your records so you can show you have paid.

At the moment the CSA seems to be chasing everybody very hard and there is a lot of suggestions that they are doing this to get people onto DEO's. What you may find is that they will ask you to pay the arrears within 2 years (its not law but they are rather keen to hold everyone to it). If you can't manage that then they with put you on a DEO and take upto 40% of your take home pay to clear the arrears. If need be you may find paying the higher rate till its all cleared up my be advantagous rather than being put on a DEO.

It would also be very useful to access all the CSA files on you, which you can request through a freedom of information request. (it should take 40 days but they are very slow and more like 80 days before your files come through)

They should assess you on your last review, ie the last time you supplied pay details. But they are law to themselves! You may find they will assess you on your current pay but they should not be able to back date it.