DT v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & Anor (CSM)
[2023] UKUT 175 (AAC)
DG v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & Anor
23 October 2023
[2023] UKUT 238 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal
A dad didn't think the government calculated his child support correctly because they used the wrong income information. The judge said the government should have checked the information more carefully, but the amount the dad was ordered to pay was still fair.
Key Facts
- •Appeal concerning child support maintenance calculation.
- •Appellant (Father) has five qualifying children.
- •Secretary of State's initial decision based on Father's gross weekly income of £986.71.
- •First-tier Tribunal (FTT) increased Father's gross annual income to £62,712, including unearned income.
- •Appeal to Upper Tribunal focuses on interpretation of regulation 69(3) concerning 'unearned income'.
- •Dispute centers on whether the Secretary of State must accept HMRC's income information or can consider contradictory evidence.
Legal Principles
Determination of unearned income under regulation 69(3) of the Child Support Maintenance Calculations Regulations 2012.
Child Support Maintenance Calculations Regulations 2012
Secretary of State's power to agree variations under section 28F of the Child Support Act 1991 and Schedule 4B.
Child Support Act 1991
Definition of unearned income as income chargeable to tax under Parts 3, 4, and 5 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income Act) 2005.
Income Tax (Trading and Other Income Act) 2005
FTT's power to make any decision the Secretary of State could have made.
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
The “HMRC figure” is a defined term and is conclusive for the calculation of historic income, but not determinative of gross weekly income.
Child Support Maintenance Calculations Regulations 2012
Outcomes
Appeal unsuccessful.
The FTT did not make any material legal mistake. Regulation 69(5) applied, allowing the FTT to determine the Father's unearned income based on sufficient evidence, even if HMRC's initial information was incorrect.
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