Collection actions
Wage garnishment help
When the IRS levies your wages, your employer is legally required to send part of every paycheck directly to the IRS. It doesn't stop on its own. Here's what actually moves it.
The basics
How a wage levy works
A wage levy is continuous. Unlike a bank levy that hits once, a wage levy stays attached to your paycheck until the balance is paid, the levy is released, or the collection period expires. Your employer has no discretion here — they’re following a legal order and can’t help you.
What the IRS leaves you is set by a table based on your filing status and dependents, not by what your bills actually cost. For most people it’s less than they need to live on, which is the entire problem.
The levy didn’t arrive without warning. It follows a series of notices ending in a Final Notice of Intent to Levy, which carries a 30-day window to request a hearing. If that letter is still in your pile unopened, the date on it is the most important number in your life this month.
What helps
What matters here
These are the factors that move a wage levy release. Nothing here is automatic, but each one is a real lever.
Getting into compliance
The IRS generally won't release a levy while returns are missing. Filing what's outstanding is often the fastest lever available.
Proving hardship
If the levy leaves you unable to cover necessary living expenses, that's a documented basis for requesting release. It requires financials, not just a phone call.
A replacement arrangement
The IRS releases levies more readily when something else takes their place: an installment agreement, or a Currently Not Collectible determination.
Our approach
How we handle it
Four steps, starting the day you call.
Same-day review
We look at your notice, confirm the levy's status, and tell you what window you're actually in.
Power of attorney and transcripts
Once you sign a Form 2848, we contact the IRS directly and pull the full account history.
Build the case for release
Financial documentation showing what the levy does to your household, plus whatever compliance gap needs closing.
Request release and set the alternative
We ask for the release and put a manageable arrangement in place so the levy doesn't come back.
A levy is rarely released on request alone. It generally takes some combination of getting current on filing, documented hardship, or an arrangement the IRS accepts in its place.
Before you call
Who this isn't for
If your wages are being garnished for child support, student loans, or a private creditor judgment, that's a different process and not something we handle. State tax garnishments follow their own rules that vary by state — tell us which state on the call.
Common questions
Wage garnishment help questions
How fast can a garnishment be released?
It depends on your compliance status, the documentation you can produce, and the IRS's current workload. Some releases move in days once financials are in front of the right person; others take considerably longer. Nobody can honestly promise you a date.
Will my employer know?
Yes — the levy notice goes to your employer's payroll department, which is how it takes effect. Payroll staff handle these routinely and it doesn't change your employment status.
Can the IRS take my whole paycheck?
No. A set amount is exempt based on your filing status and dependents. But the exempt amount is often well below what a household actually needs, which is why release matters.
What if I'm self-employed?
The IRS can levy payments from your clients through a levy on accounts receivable, which works differently and can be more damaging to a business. Mention this on the call so we treat it correctly.
Free consultation
Let's look at your notice
Tell us where things stand and a tax professional will review it and call you back. There's no cost for the review and no obligation to hire us afterward.
Request your free case review
Takes about two minutes.
Your request is in.
A tax professional will review your details and call you within one business day.