Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the accuracy of the Child Maintenance Service system for assessing payments for (a) paying and (b) receiving parents.

Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the latest tax year available. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Any income subject to income tax, including bonuses and overtime received by an employed paying parent, is included within their gross weekly income when calculating a child maintenance liability.

For self-employed paying parents, the gross income used in a maintenance calculation is provided by HMRC in the first instance. HMRC will provide details of the gross taxable profit of the paying parent's business, for the most recent complete tax year.

The scheme relies on HMRC to provide accurate income information that aligns with tax legislation in order to make a child maintenance calculation, according to generally applicable rules.

In the event a receiving parent believes a paying parent’s earnings are not captured in the standard calculation using HMRC gross income data, they can apply for a variation, under which certain other categories of income can be considered.

Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit. This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information that the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is given. If any discrepancies are found, then they can implement a correct maintenance liability that is supported by CMS legislation.