DMBM800120 - Time to Pay: Completing Income & Expenditure forms
Income & Expenditure forms
Form 36A-1 for individuals
Figures of income and expenditure are to be recorded on
form 36A-1
which is now available on IDMS and should be used instead of the
paper version whenever possible.
For those offices without IDMS access to a paper version of
the Form 36A-1 is available (DMBM800120).
Income and expenditure details will often be given in a
combination of weekly and monthly amounts. To help consistency in
determining a figure of uncommitted income you will need to
consider the whole situation in terms of monthly or weekly
instalments as the case demands. The following conversion formulae
may be of assistance:
- Monthly to weekly – multiply by 12 then divide by 52
- Weekly to monthly – multiply by 52 then divide by 12
- Four-weekly to monthly – multiply by 13 and divide by 12.
Discretionary expenditure
Discretionary expenditure represents levels of spending for
which no explanation is needed from the customer. This is a concept
that will be familiar to the majority of direct tax staff who have
been involved in time to pay issues. It is acknowledged that these
figures will not be considered in the majority of indirect tax
cases, but there will be cases where they may need to be used, for
example in small or de-registered trader cases.
The trigger figures are detailed in the table below. They
represent what research by the Office for National Statistics shows
to be average monthly spending in each category and are used
throughout the banking and credit industry. The figures are
regularly updated.
| Expenditure category | Couple with no children (£) | Couple with children (£) | Single person (£) | Single parent (£) |
| Telephone | 18 | 30 | 19 | 25 |
| Mobile phone | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Fares & motoring | 173 | 181 | 171 | 179 |
| Housekeeping | 314 | 461 | 191 | 322 |
| Children | 0 | 38 | 0 | 59 |
| Health | 17 | 13 | 20 | 9 |
| Pets | 12 | 14 | 10 | 9 |
| Repairs & maintenance | 35 | 20 | 24 | 20 |
| Other discretionary expenditure | 61 | 76 | 47 | 63 |
Where the expenditure is above the trigger figures in the chart,
you may ask the customer for an explanation. Not all situations are
covered. For example, customers with more than two children or
people with special dietary requirements or disabilities are likely
to have higher figures of expenditure within certain categories.
There are a number of other categories for which there are no
trigger figures, but nonetheless are levels of expenditure over
which the customer has no discretion or control. They are listed in
the following chart, and unless you consider that the figure quoted
by the customer for a particular category of expenditure is
excessive you should accept the level of expenditure without
question.
| Rent | Pension payments |
| Mortgage | Life assurance |
| Secured loans | HP or conditional sale |
| Council Tax | TV licence |
| Court fines | Maintenance or child support |
Corporate Debt – Pre-referral questionnaire
The form 36A-1 does not apply to corporate debt. For this reason a questionnaire has been developed (DMBM800130). It should be completed in all cases where the arrangement will exceed 3 months.
Retention of papers
You should retain the form 36A-1 or questionnaire for a period of 12 months from the end of the arrangement.
