Attachment of earnings

[houseremovals]

Morning, my daughter is due to have an attachment of earnings on her wages for unpaid council tax is there any way this can be stopped.

I told her she is better of going self employed but it isnt really an option

Thanks in advance

[Amethyst]

Can she make any offer to pay off the council tax direct with the council? Presumably if it's going to an AoE they already have a liability order against her for the arrears?

[houseremovals]

Morning, my daughter is due to have an attachment of earnings on her wages for unpaid council tax is there any way this can be stopped.

I told her she is better of going self employed but it isnt really an option

Thanks in advance

Hi Amethyst unfortunately its gone past that stage and they issued a liability order against her

[ULA]

If an AoE request has gone to your daughter's employer then I am sorry to say there is very little that can be done about is since the employer has a legal responsibility to set up the deductions. If they fail to comply with making a deduction then the employer may be subject to a conviction and fine of up to £1,000 per notice

[houseremovals]

If an AoE request has gone to your daughter's employer then I am sorry to say there is very little that can be done about is since the employer has a legal responsibility to set up the deductions. If they fail to comply with making a deduction then the employer may be subject to a conviction and fine of up to £1,000 per notice

My apologies they haven't received anything as yet but apparently its coming, Can the liability order be challenged, whats your thoughts on this? Thanks again

[ULA]

How long ago did your daughter receive the liability order? Has she tried to contact the council to make a payment arrangement?

[lgfa92]

Morning, my daughter is due to have an attachment of earnings on her wages for unpaid council tax is there any way this can be stopped.

I told her she is better of going self employed but it isnt really an option

Thanks in advance

Once a liability order has been granted then the decision on what action to take (from those allowed under Part VI of the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regs 1992 ) is up to the council. The council are not required to have tried any other enforcement prior to the Attachment of Earnings (AOE) and do not have to accept any payment arrangement in lieu of the AOE.

The decision as to whether or not to withdraw the AOE rests solely with the council.

As has been pointed out the employer commits an offence by failing to implement an AOE under regulation 37 and can be subject to a fine of up to £1000, so they must comply.

My apologies they haven't received anything as yet but apparently its coming, Can the liability order be challenged, whats your thoughts on this? Thanks again

Not unless you can come up with some reason for the liability order being legally incorrect, rather than just feeling that it should not have been issued (the reason for dispute must also be within the remit of the Magistrates' Court rather than the Valuation Tribunal, who handle many of the possible council tax disputes). The Magistrates' Court are legally limited in what falls within their powers as per reg 57 of the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regs 1992.

There is an ability for the Magistrates' Court to re-open a liability order hearing but there has to be a very good reason to do so. In the words of Brunon J "The power of a magistrates' court to set aside a liability order it has made is an exceptional one, to be exercised cautiously. In my judgment, in general a magistrates' court should not set aside a liability order unless it is satisfied, in addition to there being a genuine and arguable dispute as to the defendant's liability for the rates in question, that:

(a) the order was made as a result of a substantial procedural error, defect or mishap; and

(b) the application to the justices for the order to be set aside is made promptly after the defendant learns that it has been made or has notice that an order may have been made."

[houseremovals]

Once a liability order has been granted then the decision on what action to take (from those allowed under Part VI of the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regs 1992 ) is up to the council. The council are not required to have tried any other enforcement prior to the Attachment of Earnings (AOE) and do not have to accept any payment arrangement in lieu of the AOE.

The decision as to whether or not to withdraw the AOE rests solely with the council.

As has been pointed out the employer commits an offence by failing to implement an AOE under regulation 37 and can be subject to a fine of up to £1000, so they must comply.



Not unless you can come up with some reason for the liability order being legally incorrect, rather than just feeling that it should not have been issued (the reason for dispute must also be within the remit of the Magistrates' Court rather than the Valuation Tribunal, who handle many of the possible council tax disputes). The Magistrates' Court are legally limited in what falls within their powers as per reg 57 of the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regs 1992.

There is an ability for the Magistrates' Court to re-open a liability order hearing but there has to be a very good reason to do so. In the words of Brunon J "The power of a magistrates' court to set aside a liability order it has made is an exceptional one, to be exercised cautiously. In my judgment, in general a magistrates' court should not set aside a liability order unless it is satisfied, in addition to there being a genuine and arguable dispute as to the defendant's liability for the rates in question, that:

(a) the order was made as a result of a substantial procedural error, defect or mishap; and

(b) the application to the justices for the order to be set aside is made promptly after the defendant learns that it has been made or has notice that an order may have been made."

How about finding out that it costs just a few quid to produce these liability orders, however the council are charging us £80?

[lgfa92]

How about finding out that it costs just a few quid to produce these liability orders, however the council are charging us £80?

The 'cost of the liability order' itself is a fee charged by the court as a fee for the application being made but the overall costs requested by the council cover a wider cost than just the actual liability order application fee. People tend to concentrate on the former rather then correct use of the latter. Legislation allows the council to claim additional costs above that of the actual application fee.

In the Nicolson case, the leading case on council tax costs, issues were raised about how far the court & council had considered the costs.It was found that the court have to have been satisfied that they were reasonable in order to grant the order. As the court have to be satisfied that the costs are reasonable prior to granting the order then I'd not expect a bench to re-open the case as there'd not be the requisite "substantial procedural error, defect or mishap" unless you can demonstrate that there was an error at the original hearing.

In Nicolson the costs were £125. The appeal was not to look at the actual value of the costs claimed but, in passing , the court indicated that the level of costs was a magistrates decision and there was no indication they thought £125 was too high (assuming it passed the relevant considerations).