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Section 42 Amount of deductionsI1I2

England and Wales

(1)

The Minister may make a deduction from earnings order only if satisfied that the terms of the order—

(a)

will not cause the liable person or a person within subsection (2) to suffer hardship in meeting ordinary living expenses, and

(b)

are otherwise fair in all the circumstances.

(2)

A person is within this subsection if—

(a)

they live with the liable person for some or all of the time, or

(b)

they are financially dependent on the liable person.

(3)

The amount to be deducted in relation to an affected period must not exceed—

(a)

in a case to which subsection (4) applies, 40% of the liable person’s net earnings for the affected period, and

(b)

in any other case, 20% of the liable person’s net earnings for the affected period.

(4)

This subsection applies in a case where the Minister is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the payable amount to which the deduction from earnings order relates is recoverable from the liable person because the liable person committed fraud.

(5)

The Minister must ensure that the total amount to be deducted and paid to the Minister under a deduction from earnings order does not exceed the payable amount to which the order relates.

(6)

The Minister may by regulations make further provision about the calculation of amounts to be deducted from a liable person’s earnings and paid to the Minister in accordance with a deduction from earnings order.

(7)

The regulations may, among other things, make provision about establishing whether deductions would cause a person to suffer hardship in meeting ordinary living expenses.

(8)

Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.

(9)

In this section, “net earnings” means the person’s earnings after the following have been deducted—

(a)

income tax,

(b)

primary Class 1 national insurance contributions, and

(c)

any contribution that the person pays to a pension scheme.

Annotations

Commencement

I1

S. 42 in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes, see s. 109(2)(b)

I2

S. 42 in force at 1.4.2026 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2026/371, reg. 2(a)