How to Save Your Paycheck from IRS Garnishment

The simple truth is that the IRS will come after your money if you have not filed your tax returns, or if you owe them money. It typically takes a serious run of bad luck or circumstances to put you in a position where the IRS is about to garnish your wages, but if the IRS is threatening to enforce liens or levies, or it is already happening, we can likely get you some relief.

Does the IRS really empty people’s bank accounts and seize money from paychecks?

Yes. In 2009, the number of notices of levy served on third parties (employers and banks) rose over 25% to almost 3.5 million compared with 2.6 million in 2008[1]. In real terms, the IRS issued a levy or garnishment for 1 out of every 42 people in the United States that filed a return.  And the trend is for these garnishments and levies to continue. ;

There’s a way to fight back! Learn how to stop being a victim of the IRS.

You don’t have to sit back and take it while the IRS takes your wages.

There’s a way to make sure you have the best chance at reducing or eliminating wage garnishment. The question is, will you take advantage of this information or will you sit back and allow the IRS to take your wages without having a say in the process?

Why Does the IRS Garnish Wages?

The IRS garnishes wages as part of an orchestrated attempt at collecting IRS tax debt. There is a very strict set of rules the IRS must follow before they take money or assets from you to pay your tax bill.

If the IRS has not been able to persuade you to pay your taxes and if you have not responded to the multiple notices the IRS has sent to your last address they have for you, the agency will begin aggressive collections activities. IRS collections activities include garnishing your wages, garnishing your Social Security payments, issuing an IRS tax lien against your home or retirement accounts, attempting to levy your bank accounts, and seizing the receivables of your business by notifying your customers of your tax debt. Yes, they can and will do all of these.

Know the Process

The IRS breaks their own rules and deviates from procedures all the time. This is why TaxMasters exists. Do not rely on this information or try this on your own, this simple guide is not fool proof and not intended to be tax advice. If you have a tax problem call us now.

The IRS is required to send you a notice before they seize your assets. It is titled “Final Notice of Intent to Levy, and your right to a Hearing.” IRS sends this by certified mail. So if you get a certified mail notice, GO GET IT.

For some reason people think that if they do not go get the notice, then they were not notified. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are sent a notice by certified mail, the IRS can assume you got it and move forward.

This notice is your friend. We need it. Go get it and it will buy you access to a process we can use to negotiate with the IRS. GO GET IT, the post office will send it back after a few days and then you are left with fewer options.

How to Know When You’re a Target for Wage Garnishment

If you fail to address your tax problem, fail to file delinquent tax returns, and do not communicate with the IRS in a proactive manner, you are in danger of wage garnishment. The time to act is BEFORE you start getting notices.

The IRS sends a series of notices before garnishing your wages, but it is always best to deal with your tax problem before the notices even begin to mention levies and liens. The absolute last notice the IRS sends before garnishing your wages is CP 90 – Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. The absolute last notice the IRS sends before garnishing your Social Security is CP 91 – Final Notice before Levy on Social Security Benefits. They generally say this:

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 Final Notice

Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing

Please Respond Immediately

We previously asked you to pay the federal tax shown on the next page, but we haven’t received your payment. This letter is your notice of our intent to levy under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 6331 and your right to appeal under IRC Section 6330.

We may also file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien at any time to protect the government’s interest. A lien is a public notice to your creditors that the government has a right to your current assets, including any assets you acquire after we file the lien.

If you don’t pay the amount you owe, make alternative arrangements to pay, or request an appeals hearing within 30 days from the date of this letter, we may take your property, or rights to property. Property includes real estate, automobiles, business assets, bank accounts, wages, commissions, social security benefits, and other income. We’ve enclosed Publication 594, which has more information about our collection process; Publication 1660, which explains your appeal rights; and Form 12153, which you can use to request a Collection Due Process hearing with our Appeals Office. To preserve your right to contest Appeals’ decision in the U.S. Tax Court, you must complete, sign, and return Form 12153 within 30 days from the date of this letter…..

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Do not wait to receive these notices to address your tax problem. Because of the way IRS systems work, these notices may be sent concurrently with the order to begin garnishment. If you wait until you see these notices to act, it is more difficult to stop the garnishment.

If you have received IRS notice CP 297A – Notice of Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing, the IRS has already issued the order to garnish your wages or benefits. This is not a good position to be in. The IRS will continue to levy your funds until you regain compliance and work out a repayment plan for your tax liabilities. However, we can help.

How Much Can the IRS Take?

It’s shocking how much the IRS can take from your wages. The IRS can leave an individual as little as $182.69 per week. Check out this IRS Wage Levy Chart to see how much the IRS can take from your paycheck.

If you are already subject to wage garnishment from the IRS, your employer cannot help resolve the situation. It is illegal for them to refuse to garnish your wages, or to even postpone the garnishment. Once you have regained compliance, filed all delinquent tax returns, and remitted any current federal tax payments, then and only then will the IRS negotiate on the levy. While it may be too late to get back what the IRS has already taken, TaxMasters will work with you and the IRS to minimize the impact of wage garnishment while we do the work necessary for you to regain compliance and work out a payment plan you can legally afford.

How to Save Your Paycheck

1. Have your representative contact the IRS to let them know your plan to regain compliance and work out a payment plan ASAP. Our advice is that you do not speak to the IRS yourself. The IRS can by law lie to you to get information, the same as the Police can. You know all the answers to the questions they want to ask you, and you do not know what is within your rights to expect of them.
   Don’t have a representative?
   Contact TaxMasters today or call 1-800-581-0456 now!
2. File all delinquent tax returns ASAP and make any current payments due. Do not just drop these in the mail. There is a proper way to file them so the IRS does not lose them.
   Need professional help filing your returns?
   Contact TaxMasters today or call 1-800-581-0456 now!
3. Work with your representative and the IRS to establish a payment plan or settlement option the IRS will accept. Don’t use a firm that charges for this service up front. If the firm charges up front, you may be out the money you pay for this service. TaxMasters only offers this service to taxpayers we expect will qualify for an IRS repayment or settlement plan.
   Ready to solve your tax problem?
   Contact TaxMasters today or call 1-800-581-0456 now!

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[1] Table 16b.  Delinquent Collection Activities, Fiscal Years 2002–2009  http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=207457,00.html