Wage Garnishments

IRS frequently uses wage garnishments to collect owed taxes through taxpayer’s employer. The law requires that once a wage garnishment is filed, the employer collect a large percentage of taxpayer's wages and transmit it directly to the IRS. Sometimes an employer threatens to fire an employee to avoid handling a levy. In this case, employer might be fined or even put into prison for a one year term. 

In contrast with other levies, a levy on wages and salary has a continuous effect. It attaches future paychecks including fees, bonuses, and commissions and remains effective until the tax is fully paid or until the garnishment is released by the IRS or the State. 

The amount of money kept from any wage garnishment is based on taxpayer’s marital status and number of dependents. Basically the IRS keeps most of the money from a wage garnishment. The amount of income that is exempt from an IRS wage garnishment is figured as sum of the standard deduction claimed on taxpayer’s taxes and the amount claimed for exemptions, divided by 52. For example, a family of three will be allowed to keep around $1300 per month, if subjected to a wage garnishment.

Contact us in San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose

Wage Garnishment related links
Wage garnishment at TaxHelpers.com
Tax wage levy at MyTaxProblem.com