Council tax attachment of earnings
After a liability order, a council can tell your employer to take council tax straight from your pay. The rules are different from a county court attachment — and so are the ways to deal with it.
Applies to: England & Wales
What to do now
- Check the amount against the council’s published deduction table.
- If it leaves you short, write to the council with a budget and an alternative offer.
- Keep paying the current year’s bill so a new order is not needed.
How it starts
A council tax attachment of earnings order comes from the liability order the magistrates’ court has already made — there is no separate hearing. The council can ask you for details of your employer and earnings, and you are required by law to give them. The order goes to your employer, who must start deducting from your pay and send the money to the council until the debt is cleared.
How much is taken
The deduction is a percentage of your net earnings — pay after tax, National Insurance and pension contributions. The percentages are fixed in regulations and rise with your pay. In England nothing is taken if your net pay is £75 a week or less (£300 a month or less), and the percentage climbs in bands to 17%, with a higher rate on pay above the top band. Overtime, bonuses and commission count, so deductions can vary from one payday to the next. Your employer can also take £1 from your pay for each deduction to cover its costs. Councils usually publish the table on their website.
More than one order
If you owe council tax for more than one year, the council can send up to two orders to your employer at the same time. In Wales, councils are told not to use two at once for someone identified as vulnerable.
How it differs from a court attachment
| Council tax order | County court order | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | The council, using the liability order | The county court, after a judgment |
| Deduction | Fixed percentage of net pay | Set by the court, with protected earnings |
| Changing the amount | Only by agreement with the council | You can apply to the court to vary it |
For court orders and Direct Earnings Attachments from the DWP, see money being taken from your wages.
If it is unaffordable
- Check the deduction matches the table for your net pay. Mistakes happen, particularly with irregular pay.
- Write to the council with a full budget, showing what the deduction leaves you for rent, energy and food.
- Offer an arrangement you can keep and ask the council to withdraw the order. It does not have to agree, but it can.
- Check Council Tax Reduction and ask about a section 13A reduction if you are in hardship.
- If you have other debts too, talk to a free adviser — a DRO, IVA or bankruptcy, or Breathing Space, affects how the arrears are collected. Council tax in formal solutions.
Your job
Your employer will know about the order, which many people find hard, but it must follow it. If you leave, your employer tells the council, and the council may send a new order to your next employer.
You never have to pay for debt advice. MoneyHelper (government-backed), StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice all give free, confidential advice with no obligation.
Common questions
Does the council need to go to court for an attachment of earnings?
Only for the liability order. Once that exists, the council can send an attachment of earnings order to your employer without another hearing.
How much can the council take from my wages for council tax?
A percentage of your net pay set by regulations. In England nothing is taken on net pay of £75 a week or less, and the rate rises in bands to 17%, with a higher rate on pay above the top band.
Can I stop a council tax attachment of earnings?
You cannot ask a court to vary it, but you can ask the council to withdraw it in favour of an affordable arrangement. Paying the debt in full also ends it.