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If you owe individual income taxes, or are responsible for the trust fund recovery penalty from a business, you as an individual owe taxes to the IRS and the IRS can collect from your personal assets.  Generally speaking a levy is a taking of property, and a wage garnishment is a form of levy, basically a levying of your wages.  So how were your wages levied?  Initially, you accrued a tax debt, would have received notices from the IRS and you have yet to establish a formal agreement with the IRS.  After the IRS provided you with due process (a series of notices and appeal rights) the IRS can levy bank accounts and wages.  The IRS will issue the wage garnishment to your employer and your employer is required by law to withhold monies that are not exempt from the wage garnishment and pay them over to the IRS until your employer receives a release of wage garnishment from the IRS.  Further, it is important to note that your employer is subject to liability of they do not properly abide by the wage garnishment that the IRS has issued.

How much if my income will be garnished?  The IRS provides a chart whereby a specific amount of wages are exempt from the wage levy.  The exempt amount is determined by your number of dependents.  After the exemption amount, all other income (wages) are to be paid to the IRS.

Will the IRS release my wage garnishment?

Yes, the IRS will release your wage garnishment under certain circumstances.  If a formal agreement is established, the IRS will release the wage garnishment.  If the wage garnishment is creating an economic hardship, the IRS will release the wage garnishment.  Of course, if the liability is satisfied, the IRS will release the wage garnishment.

How long does the IRS wage garnishment last?

The bad news in regards to a wage garnishment is that unlike a bank levy, which is generally a one-time levy, a wage garnishment is typically continuous meaning that your wages will continue to be subject to the garnishment.  A wage garnishment is not a one-time levy- your wages are levied each and every pay period until the garnishment is released!

If your wages have been garnished by the Internal Revenue Service, you need to deal with and resolve your tax debt.  You can speak with a tax attorney at The McGuire Law Firm regarding your tax matters and a tax attorney can outline a resolution plan and your resolution options based upon your circumstances.  Do not wait until your wages are garnished or your bank account is levied!

In my opinion, a wage garnishment from the IRS can be much worse than a bank levy from the IRS assuming there were not significant amounts of money in your account when the IRS levied.  Reason number one is that typically when the IRS levies a bank account, there is only so much money in the account and thus only so much damage that can be done to an individual.  Often, I see many individuals that owe taxes to the IRS, keep little to no money in a bank account to begin with and thus their overall damage to exposure from a bank levy is limited.  However, when the IRS garnishes your wages, the IRS will take the majority of these wages and if you are working, the IRS is guaranteed to get some money.  Reason number two is, a wage garnishment is continuous and typically an IRS bank levy is only a single levy.  Thus, when the IRS garnishes your wages, a portion of each of your pay checks is forwarded to the IRS.

The above being said, how can this wage garnishment be released?  First, if the garnishment pays off the period or periods that the levy was issued on, the garnishment will be released.  Second, if you can pay off the tax debt(s) for the period or periods the garnishment was issued on, the wage garnishment will be released.  Option number two may not be very practical, because if you had the money, you may have paid the IRS to begin with and thus there never would have been a wage garnishment.  Option number three would to formalize an installment agreement or partial payment installment agreement.  Generally, if you formalize an installment agreement with the IRS, they will forward a release of levy or garnishment notice to your employer.  Option number four would be to verify with a financial statement and/or other financial information that the wage garnishment is creating an economic hardship.  If you can prove that the garnishment is creating an economic hardship, it is likely the IRS will partially release or fully release the garnishment.

If your wages have been garnished or you owes taxes to the IRS speak with a Denver tax attorney at The McGuire Law Firm.  A tax attorney can represent you before the IRS and help resolve your tax matters.