Is alimony withheld from financial assistance: grounds, procedure for withholding

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The alimony claimant is entitled to funds determined as a percentage of income or calculated in a fixed sum of money. For some citizens, part of their income is one-time payments provided by the employer. The question of whether alimony is withheld from financial assistance is relevant for most recipients. Legislation will help you figure it out.

How are the types of income for which alimony is taken regulated?

Before answering the question of how you can withhold part of the paid financial assistance in favor of alimony, you need to understand what legal acts regulate the admissibility of collecting alimony payments from one or another type of financial assistance. Such acts are:

Government Decree No. 841 of June 18, 1996, which contains information about all types of wages and other income, including received financial assistance, from which alimony can be withheld for the maintenance of minor children. This document was adopted back in 1996, however, after quite a lot of time, it still has not lost its relevance.
Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”. This regulatory legal act also reflects the types of income from which alimony payments can be calculated, as well as income from the amount of which any deduction is prohibited by law.

Note: The legislation on enforcement proceedings also establishes what property can be seized to pay off a debt (including alimony).

Legality of deduction or how to differentiate payments

Government Decree No. 841, adopted on July 15, 1996 (clause 2), provides for the withholding of funds in favor of the child from amounts received in the form of support. Determining whether alimony is taken from financial assistance is not difficult. Payments are subject to them, depending on the intended purpose or the event that occurred.

When this amount is provided to at least somehow compensate for the problems that have arisen, alimony is not withheld from it.
If financial assistance is not related to an important event in the debtor’s life or an emergency that happened to him or his loved ones, then funds for the maintenance of the minor will be deducted from it.

Let's look at each type of financial assistance and determine whether alimony is withheld from it.

Is alimony deducted from financial assistance?

The procedure for withholding alimony is based on the principle of the impossibility of unlawful enrichment of the party receiving alimony in the event that such payments may worsen the financial situation of the alimony payer.

Current legislation allows deduction only from a certain list of types of material assistance, namely from assistance that does not have a social purpose.

Thus, if the payments provided should be used to eliminate the consequences caused by emergency events such as a fire, earthquake, death of a close relative, or are intended to provide the necessary care for a seriously ill person, then the funds allocated for these purposes are not subject to withholding alimony payments.

If the specified assistance is targeted in nature and allocated to cover specific expenses, then such monetary payments should go precisely to their designated purposes. In this case, the legislator also prohibits retention. For example:

financial assistance provided to meet the needs of a newborn child should be spent exclusively on providing such a child with all the necessary things such as clothing, baby food, etc.
Financial assistance for the treatment or burial of a relative is similarly targeted.

Payments allocated for a person's vacation are those that the recipient has the right to dispose of at his own discretion, and therefore there are no restrictions on the collection of alimony payments from vacation.

Types of financial assistance for which alimony is not withheld

The full list of types of financial support from which alimony payments are not allowed to be withheld is as follows:

in connection with an emergency (natural disaster, cataclysm, catastrophe, act of terrorism);
due to the death of a family member;
in connection with marriage;
in connection with the birth of children;
in connection with a transfer to work in another location;
"travel";
humanitarian aid;
assistance in connection with facilitating the detection of terrorist acts and crimes;
reimbursement of the cost of therapeutic and preventive nutrition;
reimbursement of the cost of the employee’s worn-out tools.

Payments when an employee has a child

The birth of a son or daughter requires additional expenses, so support from the company is social in nature. In fact, the funds are addressed to a new member of the debtor's family. The legislator has provided a special restriction. ST. 101 of the Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” directly prohibits the withholding of funds from financial assistance upon the birth of a child. The impossibility of withholding alimony is explained by the inadmissibility of solving the problems of one minor at the expense of another.

To avoid unlawful collection, it is necessary for the accounting department to condition the payment on a new addition to the employee’s family.

Targeted payments for illnesses

If an employee or his loved one is seriously ill, the company often arranges additional payments so that he can purchase medications or undergo paid therapy. In this case, the provision of amounts is of a social nature.

Alimony from financial assistance for treatment is not subject to withholding if it is of a targeted nature. This means the elimination or relief of a specific health problem of the debtor himself or his close relative.

The company's accounting department must indicate material support in connection with treatment as the purpose of the transferred amount.

Accident support

These include all situations where damage to an employee’s property is caused. The reasons are:

floods;
fires;
frost;
terrorist attacks;
losses resulting from criminal acts;
other similar situations.

The employee finds himself in a position where many problems need to be solved. The administration has the right to help him by paying all possible assistance. Such measures are also socially oriented, so it will not be possible to collect alimony from them.

In such situations, financial assistance provides not only payments. If an employee's property is damaged, the company can provide his needs for food, transportation or some kind of construction material.

Payments upon death of a close relative

The death of a loved one is not only a emotional experience, but also a material cost. Relatives need to organize the burial of the deceased and conduct memorial events. The employing company supports its employees and allocates them funds for the listed purposes.

Assistance in the death of a close relative is not subject to alimony due to its social nature.

What labor benefits are subject to alimony deductions?

The Government of the Russian Federation, in its Resolution No. 841 of July 18, 1996, established the types of labor benefits that are taken into account when calculating alimony and are subject to withholding:

Allowances and additional payments to the basic salary related to the employee’s skill, length of service, professionalism, academic degree;
Fees;
Amounts of money to compensate for difficult working conditions, harmful conditions, night shifts, performance of duties on holidays, weekends, overtime;
Additional payments to teachers, doctors;
Vacation money.

Important! If the debtor is in prison, a psychiatric hospital, or a drug treatment clinic, he is not exempt from paying maintenance for his daughter (son).

How are the types of income to be withheld determined?

According to the rules of the RF IC, alimony obligations can be established by a notarial agreement or a judicial act - these documents, along with a court order and a writ of execution, will be the basis for initiating enforcement proceedings.
Withholding will occur at the place of work, as well as from other sources of income (this is controlled by FSSP employees or the claimant himself). The executive documents indicate only the procedure for calculating alimony - as a percentage or in a monthly fixed amount. The court does not determine the list of income from which deduction will be made, since it is regulated by Resolution No. 841.

Here is an excerpt from this regulatory act with the most common types of income subject to withholding:

earnings at the main or additional place of employment, as well as other types of guaranteed payments at work provided for by the remuneration system;
pensions and benefits, except for survivor benefits;
monetary remuneration for military personnel and employees of state (municipal) bodies;
income from business activities, etc.

As a rule, these types of income are permanent in nature and are provided for by laws or local regulations of the enterprise. If the type of income is not fixed in Resolution No. 841, alimony obligations do not apply to it.

However, labor legislation and internal company documents may also provide for the payment of financial assistance, which can be of a general or individual nature.

It is the intended purpose of the financial assistance that will be important when classifying it as income from which alimony will be deducted.

When is alimony withheld from financial assistance when received from other sources?

The list (subparagraph “l”, paragraph 2) clearly indicates the need to collect alimony from amounts of financial assistance, but the same norm also establishes some restrictions prohibiting withholding them from such payments as:

payments from budgets of all levels, foreign countries, non-profit foundations and any other sources related to compensation for harm and financial support due to natural disasters (whether natural or man-made);
humanitarian aid;
payment for assistance in preventing or detecting terrorist attacks or other acts of a criminal nature;
assistance provided due to the death of a close relative or other person who is a family member.

Under humanitarian aid by virtue of Art. 1 of the Law “On Free Assistance...” dated May 4, 1999 No. 95-FZ includes gratuitous payments:

socially unprotected segments of the population;
low-income groups of the population;
categories of citizens affected by emergencies.

State surcharges subject to alimony

In addition to labor benefits and compensation, state types of support are subject to alimony withholding:

Old age pension;
A scholarship for a debtor studying at a university, technical school, college, or religious educational institution;
Temporary disability benefits, if such a decision was made by the court or there is an alimony agreement certified by a notary;
The amount received by the debtor upon dismissal, if his enterprise is liquidated or the number of employees is reduced;
Income of a miner who is not an individual entrepreneur;
All cash receipts from transactions with property and securities.

This also includes material assistance provided to the victim of a radiation or man-made disaster, as well as the debtor’s income related to copyrights and intellectual activity.

Example. The ex-husband receives compensation for damage caused to his health. Does the court take this money into account when calculating alimony? Yes, this type of state support is subject to alimony payments.

If the ex-spouse is a military man, fireman, customs officer, or involved in drug control, the following is recovered in favor of the children:

His salary and monthly allowances;
Percentage additional payments for length of service, academic title (degree);
Severance benefits.

Deductions in favor of children are made second. First of all, income tax is written off from these amounts to the state budget.

Is financial assistance received from an employer subject to alimony?

The types of material benefits that a person who has obligations to pay alimony for the maintenance of disabled relatives (children, parents, spouses or other persons) receives, and from which this alimony must be withheld, are determined by the List of types of wages and other income..., approved by government resolution dated July 18, 1996 No. 841 (hereinafter referred to as the List).

Based on Art. 57 of the Labor Code (hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code), an employment contract with an employee may include those conditions that would make his position more favorable compared to the general rights provided for in legislation (including social and living conditions, financial situation). A similar rule is established by Art. 41 of the Labor Code regarding collective agreements.

Depending on the grounds for payment of assistance and the method of securing it (collective or labor agreement, other local acts), it can act both as a component of the salary and as social support for the employee under certain circumstances. Subp. “l” clause 2 of the List, as a general rule, provides for the mandatory withholding of alimony from financial assistance.

Judicial practice adheres to a similar conclusion. In particular, this position was voiced in the appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated February 16, 2015 in case No. 33-4924, which indicates the existence of grounds for withholding alimony when an employee receives appropriate financial assistance.

How alimony is withheld from financial assistance: terms of transfer, before and after taxes

If the financial assistance provided to the alimony payer does not have a social purpose and is considered to improve the general financial condition of the debtor, then according to Art. 99 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”, alimony is withheld from these payments in accordance with the general procedure. As in the case of wages, only after personal income tax has been withheld, and only then is interest paid from the remaining amount, which goes towards repaying alimony payments.

Also, according to the regulations of the RF IC, namely Art. 109, alimony must be accrued to the recipient of such payments no later than three days from the moment the alimony payer receives wages or other income, including material assistance.

Important! Personal income tax is not withheld from the final amount of alimony. This rule is provided for in paragraph 5 of Art. 217 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition, according to the mentioned Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, there are many types of material assistance that are not subject to taxes at all. These include:

Compensations made on a one-time basis to family members of a deceased employee;
Payments provided in connection with a natural disaster or other emergency situations;
Compensation provided to victims of terrorist attacks;
Funds intended for persons who are members of public organizations of disabled people;
Monthly benefits that are issued at the birth of a child (first and second), etc.

Procedure and rules of retention

The procedure for collecting part of the transferred income is standard. There are 2 reasons for retention:

voluntary agreement between parents (you can read about it here);
a judicial act adopted at the request of the other parent (detailed information on the forced collection of alimony is posted here).

The document for holding the deduction can be presented either by the other parent or by the bailiff.

To ensure compliance with the terms of the writ of execution, and also not to withhold excess funds, you must follow the algorithm outlined below.

First, it is necessary to establish the reason why the debtor is being paid assistance.
The next step will be to clarify the intended purpose of the amount issued or transferred.
Next, it is necessary to determine the existence of a legislative prohibition on withholding (clause 2 of Resolution No. 841 and Article 101 of the Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”).
At the last stage, it is worth studying the executive document itself. Namely, compliance with the requirements for its execution (the court decision must enter into force, and the voluntary agreement must have an certifying signature of a notary). Next, the recovery parameters are specified (interest and its amount or a fixed payment).

Legality of alimony deductions

To find out whether alimony is withheld from financial assistance, it is necessary to determine the target nature and social orientation of this type of assistance. Withholdings are unlawful if the amount of money is provided to solve a specific problem.

Example! An employee had a fire, was injured or seriously ill, had a relative die, etc.

Money allocated in the form of additional remuneration and not related to an emergency situation is taken into account when collecting alimony (bonuses, allowances, holiday supplements). Such payments may be:

One-time - issued on the basis of local acts;
Periodically - by order of the employer.

In addition to cash, it can be paid in kind: food, medicine, provision of transport and other material resources.

Definition

Financial assistance is a payment (one-time or periodic) to an employee from a company or department that is not conditional on his work performance or compliance with the internal regulations of the enterprise. Such amounts are periodically transferred in accordance with the local act of the employer. If the payments are one-time, then they are accrued by order of the head of the company.

The most common reasons for their accrual are:

funeral of loved ones;
birth of a child;
employee going on vacation;
employee's wedding;
fire or other disaster;
illness of an employee or his close relative.

This list is not exhaustive: financial payment may also relate to other events that happened to the employee.

Support is provided not only in cash, but also in kind. The recipient can receive medicines, food, or provide transportation services free of charge.

Deduction amount

Working citizens, as a rule, pay alimony in the form of a share (percentage) of their earnings and other income received both at work and outside of work.

The amount of deductions depends on the number of children of the payer.

So, for one child, funds are withheld in the amount of ¼ of the salary, as well as other payments to the employee, including bonuses, vacation pay, and so on. For two children, 1/3 is withheld, for three or more – ½.

If an employee has an alimony debt, it is also withheld from wages and other payments. At the same time, the law prohibits withholding more than 70% of funds from an employee’s earnings.

Example of calculating alimony with financial assistance

Ivanov A., in connection with his departure on regular leave from July 15, received the following payments at his main place of work:

Vacation pay in the amount of 16,000 rubles;
Salary from July 1 to July 14 in the amount of 14,000 rubles;
A one-time payment for vacation, provided for by internal regulations and called “material assistance for vacation in the amount of 10,000 rubles.

All of these funds were credited to him on July 13 shortly before he left for vacation. The amount of all funds received was 40,000 rubles. For the child, ¼ of all types of earnings is withheld from Ivanov.

Thus, the total amount of alimony payable will be:

We subtract personal income tax: 40,000 rubles – 13% = 34,800 rubles;
We calculate alimony: 34800 * 25% (1/4) = 8700 rubles.

Please note that in this case, there is no need to separately calculate alimony from financial assistance. The employer's accounting department itself will calculate them at the same time as deducting mandatory payments from vacation pay and wages. If the payer pays child support in a fixed amount, then the amount of financial assistance will not matter at all - the required amount will be withheld either from vacation pay, or from the balance of wages for the month, or from financial assistance. Typically, accounting tries to evenly distribute the burden of alimony in a fixed amount across the payer’s income.

Treatment and recovery

It often happens that workers request additional assistance for treatment. In this case, the decision on whether alimony should be paid from this amount will be made in court. The fact is that the term “treatment and recovery” is very capacious and can include a vacation in a sanatorium or resort, which is subject to alimony, or it can imply an expensive, urgent and necessary operation, which cannot be subject to alimony.

Financial payment for the birth of a child

Payments to parents at the birth of a child can be made by both the state and their employers. They can be one-time, or they can be paid monthly.

In order to receive financial assistance for a child from the employer, the employee needs to write a free-form application, attaching the child’s birth certificate.

All payments for children, despite the fact that the recipients are parents, are aimed at supporting the children and satisfying their requirements. In other words, parents are not the owners of these funds.

And, therefore, deduction from these amounts of alimony for the maintenance of other children of the payer is illegal.

Reflection of financial assistance in the personal income tax certificate

Information about the income of individuals reflected in the form of a personal income tax-2 certificate must also include information about certain types of financial assistance, since in some cases it provides for tax deductions.

This certificate reflects only some special financial assistance payments:

exceeding the annual limit of 4 thousand rubles. per 1 employee;
amounts over 50 thousand rubles. for the birth of a child;
payments on grounds not provided for by exceptions for personal income tax and contributions.