Can the IRS Garnish Entire Paychecks?
Failure to make payments as agreed upon through a payment plan, as well as ignoring multiple attempts by the IRS to resolve back income tax issues can trigger a look at your current income. The IRS has authority to send a wage garnishment order to your employer, without going to court. The garnishment cannot take your entire check. Amounts exempt from seizure vary, depending on the number of dependents you file.
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Garnishments
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An IRS wage garnishment or levy of a paycheck comes by formal order to your employer and directs him to send your entire net pay, minus the exempted amount, to the IRS. Because the order specifies how much money you are allowed to have from your check, working overtime or getting a raise will only increase the amount the IRS receives each pay period. It will not change what you are allowed to keep out of each check. Unlike most other garnishment types, the IRS is not restricted by a percentage amount in how much of your check it can take.
Exempt Wages
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The exempt amount of pay that you are left with after each pay period depends on the number of exemptions you claim on your W-4 form at work. The IRS sends a table along with the garnishment order, detailing how much you are allowed to keep. For example, at the time of publication of this article, if you claim to be single with one exemption on your W-4, you will be allowed to retain $182.69 of your weekly pay. If you claim to be single and two exemptions, you can keep $253.85. The amount is the same whether your take-home pay total is $183.00 or $10,000 per week. Head of household and one exemption allows you to keep $234.62, while head of household and two exemptions allows you to retain $305.77. The IRS provides amounts for each possible filing status and number of dependents.
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Length of Garnishment
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Once the garnishment is ordered, it remains in effect until the IRS debt has been paid in full. The employer does not have a legal right to stop removing the garnishment amount and sending it to the IRS.
Stopping the Garnishment
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In addition to paying the debt in full, the garnishment will be reduced or stopped if you can prove it creates an undue hardship on your ability to take care of your most basic living expenses. The IRS will not lift the garnishment so that you can pay down your credit card debt, but if you can prove it prevents you from paying rent, buying food or keeping the power on at home, the IRS might reduce or lift the garnishment until your financial situation improves.
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References
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