An attachment of earnings order tells an employer to take money from your wages to pay a debt. How much comes off depends on the type of order and your pay after tax. Pick the order, enter your net pay for the pay day and see the deduction, the employer's fee and what you take home.
Council tax, fines and court orders in England and Wales
An attachment of earnings order, often shortened to AEO, makes your employer take a set amount from your pay each pay day and send it to whoever you owe. Your employer has to follow it. There are three main kinds in England and Wales, and each one works out the deduction differently:
For the tables, what counts is your net pay: the earnings left after your employer takes off Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension contributions.
The council tax rules are in Schedule 4 to the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. Find the band your net pay for the pay day falls in and take that percentage of the whole amount. In the top band, 17% applies up to the band limit and 50% applies to everything above it. England has used the same figures since April 2007:
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Net pay a week | Net pay a month | Net pay a day | Deduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £75 | Up to £300 | Up to £11 | 0% |
| £75.01 to £135 | £300.01 to £550 | £11.01 to £20 | 3% |
| £135.01 to £185 | £550.01 to £740 | £20.01 to £27 | 5% |
| £185.01 to £225 | £740.01 to £900 | £27.01 to £33 | 7% |
| £225.01 to £355 | £900.01 to £1,420 | £33.01 to £52 | 12% |
| £355.01 to £505 | £1,420.01 to £2,020 | £52.01 to £72 | 17% |
| Over £505 | Over £2,020 | Over £72 | 17% up to the limit, 50% above it |
Wales has had its own, higher thresholds since 1 April 2022, so the same pay usually loses less there:
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Net pay a week | Net pay a month | Net pay a day | Deduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £105 | Up to £430 | Up to £16 | 0% |
| £105.01 to £190 | £430.01 to £780 | £16.01 to £28 | 3% |
| £190.01 to £260 | £780.01 to £1,050 | £28.01 to £38 | 5% |
| £260.01 to £320 | £1,050.01 to £1,280 | £38.01 to £47 | 7% |
| £320.01 to £505 | £1,280.01 to £2,010 | £47.01 to £74 | 12% |
| £505.01 to £715 | £2,010.01 to £2,860 | £74.01 to £102 | 17% |
| Over £715 | Over £2,860 | Over £102 | 17% up to the limit, 50% above it |
If you're paid every 2 or 4 weeks, your pay is divided by the number of weeks, the weekly table is applied, and the result is multiplied back up. The same happens for pay covering several months. Pay at any other regular interval is divided by the number of days and uses the daily table.
Take net monthly pay of £1,800 in England, the calculator's starting figure. It falls in the £1,420.01 to £2,020 band, so the deduction is 17% of £1,800, which is £306. With the employer's £1 fee, take-home pay is £1,493. The same pay in Wales falls in the £1,280.01 to £2,010 band, so 12% comes off: £216. A council can't have more than two of its own orders in force against you at the same time.
When an attachment of earnings order is made under Schedule 5 to the Courts Act 2003 to collect a fine, whether by the court or a fines officer, the employer uses the tables in regulation 5 of the Fines Collection Regulations 2006. They work like the council tax tables but start at lower pay, so more of a small wage is taken:
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Attachable earnings a week | Attachable earnings a month | Attachable earnings a day | Deduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £55 | Up to £220 | Up to £8 | 0% |
| £55.01 to £100 | £220.01 to £400 | £8.01 to £15 | 3% |
| £100.01 to £135 | £400.01 to £540 | £15.01 to £20 | 5% |
| £135.01 to £165 | £540.01 to £660 | £20.01 to £24 | 7% |
| £165.01 to £260 | £660.01 to £1,040 | £24.01 to £38 | 12% |
| £260.01 to £370 | £1,040.01 to £1,480 | £38.01 to £53 | 17% |
| Over £370 | Over £1,480 | Over £53 | 17% up to the limit, 50% above it |
On attachable earnings of £300 a week, the fines table takes 17%, or £51. The council tax table for England would take 12% of the same pay.
For a county court judgment, the order sets two figures: the normal deduction rate, which is what the court wants taken each pay day, and the protected earnings rate, the least you must be left with. Your employer takes the normal deduction, or only the amount your pay is above the protected earnings rate if that's smaller. If your pay doesn't exceed the protected rate, nothing is taken. A judgment debt order is non-priority, so any shortfall isn't carried forward.
Maintenance orders are priority orders, and missed amounts do carry forward. GOV.UK's example uses pay of £190, a protected earnings rate of £150 and a normal deduction of £25:
Choose the order type in the calculator, then enter the two rates from your order and anything carried forward from earlier pay days.
Each time your employer makes a deduction under a council tax order or an order made under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971, it may take an extra £1 towards its costs. For court orders, GOV.UK says the £1 can take your pay below the protected earnings rate, but not below the National Minimum Wage. Your employer must also tell you in writing how much has been deducted, which is usually shown on your payslip.
For court orders, GOV.UK lists wages, fees, bonuses, commission, overtime, statutory sick pay, contractual sick, maternity, paternity and adoption pay, and private or occupational pensions as earnings. Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, parental bereavement and neonatal care pay, statutory redundancy pay and social security benefits don't count. The council tax rules similarly leave out benefits, tax credits, Universal Credit and disability allowances.
If you have several council tax orders, your employer deals with them in the order they were made, and each later order works on the pay left after the earlier ones. An order for a judgment debt waits until council tax orders and other deduction orders have been dealt with. Between court orders, priority orders such as maintenance come before judgment debt orders.
Work out your net pay first with the take-home pay calculator or the gross to net calculator. The council tax calculator shows a yearly bill, the debt repayment calculator helps plan other debts, and the child maintenance calculator covers maintenance payments.
For council tax in England it is between 0% and 17% of net pay, plus 50% of monthly net pay above £2,020 (or weekly pay above £505). Wales uses higher thresholds. For a county court judgment, the court sets the normal deduction and the protected earnings you keep.
On net pay: your earnings after Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension contributions. The tables for council tax and fines apply to that figure.
Since 1 April 2022, nothing is taken from monthly net pay up to £430. The rate then rises from 3% to 17%, with 50% on monthly pay above £2,860 (weekly pay above £715).
Yes. Under a council tax order or a court order made under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971, your employer can take an extra £1 each time it makes a deduction, towards its administrative costs.
It is the least you must be paid on each pay day under a court order. If your pay is at or below it, nothing is deducted. For maintenance orders, missed deductions are carried forward to later pay days.
