CSA - Child maint.

No if you become self employed They will base it on your projected income is or what you have been earning this last year. Then just the payment at the end for what you owe. I would suggest knowing the figure and putting the money in a different account for when this comes. So if you currently pay £400 a month continue to pay this. If you are taking home more money than that put the difference each month into an account to pay the CSA. Keep a record of all of your income etc.
Remember if you are self employed that when you are sick / on holiday you do not get paid for this. Have money set aside for that.

Rule of thumb will be 20% for all your take home (wages and dividends). If you want to pay less then you can tie more up in your pension. The money paid is only after tax , NI and pension.

With my company I tend to pay myself what I need to live on with dividends and pension. I then leave the rest in the company and do not draw it down. This is classed as working capital of the company and is NOT my wages so cannot get CSA'd.

I am doing this not because I dont want my kids to have money. I already pay £550 a month, Plus all the stuff at my house and I do the holidays / extras , blah blah. I do it because I know my money is not being used for the kids it is suplimenting her lifestyle.

You can also think about having other directors in your company so you do not own above 49% of the company. This cannot be anyone living with you or your partner. Then the dividend payments are not taken into account as part of the calculations.

F