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Attachment of Earnings Orders: Advice for Employers

If you are an employer that has received a Council Tax attachment of earnings order an explanation on the following:

the process that leads to the making of an attachment of earnings order,

an explanation of your duties under an order and

some of the frequently asked questions about Council Tax attachment of earnings orders.

More information on attachment of earnings orders is available in the Attachment of Earnings handbook  (1.05 MB) produced by Her Majesty's Court Service.  This guide offers detailed advice on all types of attachment of earnings order and explains the priorities between different types of order.  If the answer to any of your questions is not shown on this page you should consult the handbook.  If you can't find an answer to your query then we may be able to help.  You can contact the Revenues Section by e-mail or you can phone the Customer Contact Centre on 01527 881288.

How is a Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order made?

When a council tax bill is unpaid, we follow a process to allow us to recover the debt. We can apply to the magistrates court for a summons to be issued regarding the non payment of council tax. If we can prove to the magistrates that the council tax bill is correct and outstanding, the court will issue a liability order. We can also apply costs to the account to pay the money we have spent to recover the debt.

Once we have a liability order against an account holder, we have a number of options which we can use to recover the debt. This includes applying an attachment of earnings.

If we decide to recover through an attachment of earnings, we will write to the customers employer with an attachment of earnings order. We also send a copy of this order to the debtor. The order is a standard form which sets out the amount of council tax outstanding and the employers responsibility to comply with this order.

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The employer's duties under a Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order

When you receive a Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order (CTAOE) a number of duties are placed on you.

If you receive a CTAEO for someone who is no longer or has never been in your employment then you must inform the issuing authority within fourteen days in writing and your responsibility to do anything under the order will cease.

If the person who is the subject of the order is in your employment you must make deductions from their earnings.  These deductions should begin as soon as possible after the receipt of the order. The amount deducted should then be forwarded to the authority by the 19th day of the month following the month in which the deduction was made.

You must inform your employee in writing about each deduction and of either the total deductions made under the order to date or the outstanding balance to be repaid to the authority.  This infomation should be provided  when the employee is given their pay statement.  If no pay statements are usually given, you must inform them in writing as soon as possible after making the deduction. In each case you must include the amount you have deducted or will deduct towards your administrative costs for operating the order.

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Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Orders: Frequently Asked Questions

How should payments be made to the Council?

What about my administration costs?

How long does the order last?

What happens if I don't comply with the order?

What counts as earnings?

How much should be deducted?

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Payments under the CTAOE can be made to the council by BACS or by sending a cheque to the Council's offices.  The BACS payment details are shown on the letter sent to you with the CTAOE.  Which ever method you use to make payment you should include a remittance advice which include the full Council Tax reference from the letter included with the CTAOE.

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You may  deduct £1 towards your administration costs from your employee's earnings each time you make a deduction under a CTAOE.

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You must continue to make deductions under the order until you have deducted the full balance due under the order, we write to you to tell you to stop making deductions or until the debtor leaves your employment.  If the debtor leaves your employment you should make a deduction from their final pay and write to us to let us know they have left your employment.

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A CTAOE is a legal document and an employer could be liable to a fine if they:

fail to comply with the order unless they can prove all reasonable steps were taken to comply

fail to give all required notifications relating to the CTAEO

in giving notification make a statement which they know to be false in a material particular or recklessly make a statement which is false in a material particular.

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Earnings are defined as sums payable by way of:

wages or salary (including any fees, bonus, commission, overtime pay or other emoluments payable in addition to wages or salary payable under a contract of service)

statutory sick pay.

Earnings do not include:

sums payable by public departments of the Government of Northern Ireland or of a territory outside the United Kingdom

pay and allowances of members of the armed forces (other than that paid by an employer to a person as a special member of a reserve force)

benefit or allowances payable under any enactment relating to social security (this includes statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay)

tax credits

allowances payable in respect of disablement or disability; and

wages payable to a person as a seaman, other than as a seaman of a fishing boat

The deductions you make should be taken from net-earnings.  Net-earnings are earnings after the deduction of income tax, primary Class 1 national insurance contributions, superannuation contributions and any deduction with a higher priority.

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The amount that you should deduct can be calculated by reference to the tables included with the CTAOE.  If you no longer have the tables then they can be downloaded here.

CTAOEs made between 1 October 1998 and 31 March 2007  (8.59 KB)

CTAOEs made after 1 April 2007  (8.54 KB)

If the payment frequency for your employee is not shown in the tables then more information on the amount to deduct is included in the employer's guide handbook.  (1.05 MB)

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