CSA Deduction (Child Support)

Originally the Child Support Agency (CSA), the body responsible for non-resident-parent maintenance payments has been the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) since 2012, but the term 'CSA deduction' is still widely used on payslips and in employer payroll systems. Whatever the label, a CSA-style deduction is a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) or Deduction from Earnings Request (DER) that compels the paying parent's employer to take maintenance directly from gross or net pay.

A DEO has statutory force: the employer must apply it within 21 days of receipt and continue until told otherwise. A DER is voluntary but processed in the same way. Both have a 'protected earnings proportion' — the employee must always keep at least 60% of net earnings. If the deduction would breach that floor, the employer reduces it for that period and the shortfall rolls forward.

Worked example: Jordan has a £230 monthly CMS DEO and net pay of £2,100. The deduction sits comfortably above the 60% protected floor (£1,260), so the full £230 is taken and net pay falls to £1,870. The employer remits the money to the CMS by the 19th of the following month. CMS deductions sit alongside, and rank below, magistrates' court fines but above non-priority AEOs when several orders compete. Employees can ask the CMS to vary the rate by reporting income changes; employers must not negotiate with the employee directly.