A military allotment is an automatic payroll deduction that sends part of a service member’s paycheck to a separate bank account or a third party before the remaining balance lands in the primary account. The legal authority sits in 37 U.S.C. § 701, which lets you set up allotments “for the purpose of supporting relatives or for any other purpose that the Secretary considers proper.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 37 USC 701 – Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force; Contract Surgeons Allotments come in two kinds: discretionary ones you set up yourself, and non-discretionary ones imposed on your pay by a court order or federal agency.
What You Can Use an Allotment For
Discretionary allotments are the ones you control. You pick the amount, the recipient, and the start date. Typical uses include routing money to a savings account at a different bank, paying a mortgage, covering life insurance premiums, or giving to charity through the Combined Federal Campaign. CFC contributions start at just $1 per pay period per charity, with no ceiling above that floor.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CFC Donations
Supporting a relative is the oldest use and still the clearest fit for the statute. Beyond that, the Secretary’s discretion is what opens the door to savings, insurance, and similar purposes.
What You Can’t Use an Allotment For
Two significant restrictions apply to service members, and both exist because of past abuses near military bases.
Personal Property Purchases
Since January 1, 2015, DoD regulations have banned the use of discretionary allotments to buy, lease, or rent personal property. You cannot set up a new allotment to finance a car, motorcycle, boat, furniture, appliances, electronics, or other tangible consumer goods.3Defense Finance and Accounting Service. New Allotment System Change Frequently Asked Questions Allotments of this type that predated the rule were allowed to keep running, but no new ones can be created, and legacy allotments can be adjusted in amount only, not redirected to a different recipient. Stop one and you cannot restart it.
Consumer Credit Under the Military Lending Act
The Military Lending Act, 10 U.S.C. § 987, goes further than the DoD rule. It makes it illegal for a creditor to require a service member to set up an allotment as a condition of extending consumer credit.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 987 – Terms of Consumer Credit Extended to Members and Dependents Two carve-outs exist: residential mortgages, and auto loans used to buy the vehicle that secures them. So a mortgage lender or a dealership financing the car you’re buying can still accept allotment payments. A payday lender, a vehicle title lender, or any similar high-cost creditor cannot demand one.
How Many Allotments You Can Have
Military members are limited to six discretionary allotments at any one time. The cap, sometimes called the Rule of Six, comes from 37 U.S.C. § 701 and is carried into DoD regulations.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 37 USC 701 – Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force; Contract Surgeons There’s also a one-per-recipient rule: you can’t send two separate discretionary allotments to the same person or institution.5Department of Defense. Volume 7A, Chapter 42 – Discretionary Allotments Retirees can carry up to six discretionary allotments over from active duty, and new ones can be added as long as the total stays at or below six.
Non-discretionary allotments, such as court-ordered support or an IRS levy, don’t count against the six-allotment cap because they aren’t voluntary.
There’s also a dollar floor. Your combined allotments cannot exceed the pay actually due you for the period. If mandatory deductions for taxes, retirement, and court-ordered support consume most of your pay, the room left for voluntary allotments shrinks accordingly.
Setting Up, Changing, or Stopping an Allotment
Before you start, gather the receiving bank’s nine-digit routing number, the account number, and whether the account is checking or savings.6Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 2231 Direct Deposit Direct Instructions for Processing Federal Employee Payments You also need a dollar amount and an effective start date aligned to a pay cycle. A single wrong digit can bounce the transfer back.
Online Through myPay
The quickest route is the myPay portal run by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Log in, select “Allotments,” choose “Add Financial Allotment,” enter the bank details and dollar amount, and confirm.7Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Allotments The system shows a confirmation screen before anything is finalized. Changes typically appear on your Leave and Earnings Statement within one to two pay cycles.
Stopping or changing a discretionary allotment uses the same section of myPay. Pick the allotment, then adjust the amount or stop the deduction.
Paper Form
If you don’t use myPay, military members submit DD Form 2558, Authorization to Start, Stop or Change an Allotment.8Defense. DD Form 2558 – Authorization to Start, Stop or Change an Allotment Completed forms go to your local Finance Office or can be mailed to DFAS.9Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Customer Service Paper takes longer than electronic submissions because the data has to be verified and entered by hand.
Non-discretionary allotments cannot be stopped by request. A court-ordered support deduction only ends through an amended court order, and a levy only ends when the issuing agency releases it.
Court-Ordered Allotments and Garnishment Caps
When a court orders child support or alimony withheld from your military pay, your payroll office must process it, and it takes priority over your voluntary allotments. The maximum percentage that can be taken is capped by 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b):10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
- 50% of disposable earnings if you are supporting another spouse or dependent child
- 60% of disposable earnings if you are not supporting another spouse or dependent child
- 55% or 65% respectively if the order enforces support more than 12 weeks overdue
Disposable earnings means what’s left after mandatory deductions like taxes and retirement contributions, not gross pay. If support orders are already consuming a large share of your pay, your voluntary allotments may need to shrink or stop to keep total deductions within the pay actually due.