This article explains how to set up a child support deduction for an employee. An employer may be required to deduct an amount for child support once their net income is above the Protected Earnings Amount (PEA) set by the Australian Tax Office.
An employer can choose to have child support payments automatically deducted from their pay on a regular basis, or if a notice to commence child support deductions is received from the Department of Human Services (DHS).
For more information refer to the employer guide (DHS) on Child Support information for employers.
Set up a child support deduction with Tax Certificate Code - Child Support Deduction
Choose Setups, Payroll, Deductions, Maintain.
Type a Deduction Code and Description for the child support deduction.
Set the Tax Status to After Tax and the Tax Certificate Code to Child Support Deduction.
Select a calculation method in the Type field. For example: Value or % of Calculated.
Set the Protected Earn/Day value based on the amount provided by Services Australia at Protected earnings amount when deducting child support. The current daily amount is $76.32 which applies to the date range 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
📌 Note:Attaché Payroll version 21 (or later) checks to see if the deduction applies based on the employee's PEA.
You will need to enter a value in the Protected Earn/Day field greater than zero, as if it is left as zero value, the line total in the timesheet will show as zero, regardless of the value you enter as the deduction amount.
In addition, the line total in the pay will only calculate up to the value of the total amount - (Protected Earn/Day x Days in pay period).
Leave the Value Minimum value as 0.00 and the Value Maximum as 9999999.99 as to not interfere with the Protected Earn/Day value.
If you will be planning to submit the amount using a bank account set up from Employee Super/Other Accounts, Select the option Use Employee Other Accounts. Otherwise, leave the checkbox blank.
Select any other required checkbox options.
Click Accept (F9) to save the entry of the deduction code.
Set up a child support deduction with Tax Certificate Code - Child Support Garnishee
Refer to Services Australia Garnishee notice to employers for deductions from salaries or wages
Choose Setups, Payroll, Deductions, Maintain.
Type a Deduction Code and Description for the child support garnishee deduction.
Set the Tax Status to After Tax and the Tax Certificate Code to Child Support Garnishee.
Select a calculation method in the Type field. For example; Value or % of Calculated.
Set a Value Minimum and Value Maximum as required.
If you will be planning to submit the amount using a bank account set up from Employee Super/Other Accounts, Select the option Use Employee Other Accounts. Otherwise, leave the checkbox blank.
Click Accept (F9) to save the entry of the deduction code.
Create a new Employee Super Other Account Code as a type of Bank to link to the deduction code
If you are linking a bank account to the deduction code to pay the child support deduction for every pay (ticking Use Employee Other Accounts as per above), follow the steps below
Select the Location Code and Employee Code required.
Enter a new Account Code that identifies what the code is for e.g.: <employee code> + CS for Child Support.
Set the Account Type as Bank.
Enter an Account Description.
Enter the BSB, Account Number and Account Name.
Click Accept (F9) to save the new account.
Add the Child Support deduction line to the standard pay
Navigate to Payroll, Masterfiles, Employee Standard Pays, Maintain.
Open the standard pay for the required employee.
Add the Child Support Deduction line and set the required Employee Account Code.
Note: if the Use Employee Other Accounts checkbox was not selected when setting up the deduction code, the Employee Account code fields will not be visible here and this step can be skipped.Click Accept (F9) to save the changes to the deduction line and then Finish and click Yes to save the Employee Standard pay. The deduction line is now linked to the employee bank account code, and this line will now be created in the Bank Transfer (ABA) file for payment.
🤓 Tip: Create a payment schedule to help track and manage these types of payments. To learn more about payment schedules, see: How to setup a scheduled payment.
📌Note:
Attaché Payroll does not check to see if the deduction applies based on the employee's PEA, this will be a manual process.
Attaché recommends seeking advice from your accountant in relation to the correct liability account/General Ledger posting account to choose. Attaché support cannot provide this advice.