IRS Wage Garnishment Help

When someone calls me after a garnishment hits, the first thing I want to know is which notices they got and when. That tells me where we are.

Here is how we start. We file a power of attorney so the IRS deals with us instead of you. Then we pull your complete IRS account records. Not just the transcript anyone can request. We pull the IRS’s internal account records too. Then we run them through tools that show us far more about your account than you could find on your own.

From there, we don’t ask the IRS for a favor. When your case meets the legal requirements, the law says the IRS must release the levy. My job is to make your case meet them.

Several paths can earn a release. An installment agreement. Hardship status. Sometimes another resolution entirely. We don’t guess at which one. We run the numbers the same way the IRS runs them and pick the path that fits.

Joshua A. Webskowski, EA, USTCP will:

• Pull your complete IRS account records, including the internal transcripts most taxpayers never see, so we know exactly where you stand
• File a power of attorney and speak to the IRS for you, on your behalf, so you stop being the one who has to talk to them
• Work with the IRS to release the levy that’s been placed on your paycheck
• Set up a resolution for the back taxes underneath so the problem doesn’t come back to haunt you

The IRS does not start garnishing your wages out of nowhere. A series of notices comes first, each one sounding a little more urgent than the previous one:

1. CP14: your first bill, showing the balance due
2. CP501 and CP503: reminders that the balance is still owed
3. CP504: notice that the IRS intends to levy
4. CP90, CP297, or Letter 1058: the Final Notice of Intent to Levy and your right to a hearing
5. CP91 or CP298: final notice before the IRS levies Social Security benefits

The Final Notice of Intent to Levy is the one that matters most. Receiving it starts a 30-day window to request a Collection Due Process hearing. Once that window closes, the IRS can move ahead with the garnishment.

If any of these notices have shown up in your mail, acting sooner gives you the most options.

While the balance sits, interest keeps running under IRC section 6621. It compounds daily and the rate resets every quarter

More than most people expect. An IRS wage levy does not use the 25% cap that applies to most other creditors.

Instead, the IRS leaves you a set exempt amount based on your filing status and number of dependents and takes the rest. Your employer figures that exempt amount using the current IRS Publication 1494 table that arrives with the levy.

To keep the full exempt amount, you have to return the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status within three days. Miss it and the IRS treats you as married filing separately with zero dependents. That leaves you the smallest amount the law allows.

You work directly with Joshua A. Webskowski, EA, USTCP.

He has been doing taxes since 2003, more than 20 years. The BestTaxPro^TM team brings more than 130 years of combined tax experience.

When you call, you reach a real tax professional. Not a salesperson.

Wage levies are part of the IRS collection process, a subject I have written about for years. My book How to Get Out of IRS Problems covers IRS notices, liens and levies, penalties, and the resolution options step by step. Complimentary PDF copies of both of my books are available through BestTaxPro™.