Fees & costs

Employer charges for income withholding

Employers may charge a fee to cover their costs to withhold support.

This fee is taken from the parent’s wages, commission check, or other sources of income, but not from the support payment. The fee does not affect the parent’s gross income for calculating support amounts.

By law, the fee must be the actual cost to the employer, but may not be more than $3.00 for each withholding.

In general, employers may charge more than one fee from the same paycheck if they send in withholdings in separate mailings or with separate documentation, such as:

• withholding child support and withholding R&D fees from the same paycheck (requires separate paperwork and mailings)
• withholding child support from the same paycheck for two child support orders if the orders are from two different states (requires separate paperwork and mailings)

Employers may not charge separate fees for two or more withholdings from one paycheck if the withholdings are all sent to the Wisconsin Support Collections Trust Fund with the same documentation. For example

• withholding for two Wisconsin child support orders
• withholding for current and past-due support

Employers may not charge a fee for sending withheld premiums to an insurance provider.

Go back to the Support Payments page

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