The Distinction Between Enforcement Fees and Enforcement Expenses

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Av. Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Fees and enforcement expenses are different legal items in enforcement proceedings. A fee is a public receivable based on statute and the applicable tariff. A payment for service, an expert, custody, or sale may instead be the expense of a particular enforcement action. These items must be shown separately in the file's account.

A creditor's payment of an advance to enable an action does not necessarily mean that the creditor will ultimately bear that expense. The Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law contains general rules on meeting enforcement costs and recovering them from the debtor. However, unnecessary actions, wrongful enforcement, or special statutory exceptions may lead to different results.

The accrual and calculation of the collection fee depend on the stage of enforcement and the manner of payment. Payment outside the file, payment into the file, and abandonment of enforcement are not the same action. The calculation depends not only on principal but also on the amount collected and the date of collection.

Since fixed amounts and certain tariff thresholds change periodically, calculations must use the rules in force for the relevant year. An example calculation from the preceding year is not a fixed measure that can be applied directly to a new file. The scope of any tax or fee exemption must be determined separately.

An attachment or sale request may fail to produce its expected legal effect if the necessary expense has not been paid. Liability for the expense, completion of the advance, and the action to which the payment relates must therefore be distinguished. A dispute over the file's account requires examination of both the basis of the assessment and the enforcement office's application of it.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.