Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure self-employed people claiming child maintenance declare their income in full.

For the 2012 scheme, income data is sought directly from HMRC.

Under the 1993 and 2003 schemes self-employed earners are asked to provide HMRC’s Tax Calculation Notice as evidence of their income. If this cannot be provided, income data can be requested directly from HMRC.

Should any client believe issues of tax fraud exist, we will signpost them appropriately to HMRC or the Financial Investigation Unit, run by the Child Maintenance Group.