Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason Regulation 4(1) of the Child Support (Child Support Maintenance) Calculations Regulations 2012 provides that a relevant tax year for the calculation of child maintenance by a paying parent is any one of the six years immediately preceding the date of request and not the most recent year for which tax data is available.

To make an initial maintenance assessment, regulations provide that HM Revenue & Customs share income information for the most recent complete tax year they hold within the previous six years. This process is repeated annually to ensure the assessment is based on the most recent data HMRC hold and in line with a paying parent’s circumstances.

More recent income data can be used in specific circumstances where a paying parent’s income has changed in a way that breaks the 25% tolerance, requiring their calculation to move from historic to current income.