If a non-resident parent is self-employed, they still should pay child maintenance in the normal way. We will work out the amount they should pay based on their weekly income and the number of children they are paying child maintenance for. The only difference is the way we work out their earnings.
How does the CSA work out earnings from self-employment?
If the non-resident parent is self-employed we work out their average weekly earnings for the most recent tax year.
However, there may be times when we cannot work out earnings from self-employment in this way. For example, if the non-resident parent has only recently started self-employed work we use details of the gross income (all the money the business, rather than the non-resident parent, has earned). We then take away from the gross income:
- any reasonable expenses paid to run the business (not including capital expenditure or business entertainment expenses)
- VAT (value added tax)
For more information on how we calculate maintenance read How is
child maintenance worked out?
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You can use our current scheme online calculator to work out much maintenance might be payable.
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