Federal Payment Levy Program (FPLP)
A program under which the IRS can generally seize up to 15% of federal payments. It does not apply to private-employer wages.
Full Definition
Under the Federal Payment Levy Program the IRS can generally seize up to 15% of a taxpayer's federal payments, and up to 100% of payments due to a vendor for property, goods, or services sold or leased to the federal government. The scope of this program is federal payments only. It is not the rule for wages paid by a private employer, and that figure should never be applied to an ordinary paycheck. Wage levies on private-employer pay work differently: exempt amounts are set by a separate schedule rather than by a percentage cap.
What to do next
If a federal payment has been reduced, call the number on the notice you received. If the levy is against wages from a private employer, this is the wrong page — read Levy Exempt Amounts instead.
What this page does not say
- The exempt-amount schedule for private-employer wage levies (Publication 1494) has not yet been sourced. This page therefore states no figure for private wages.
Sources
- Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-08-18
- Information about wage levies — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-08-20
Last reviewed 2026-08-20 by Tax Resolution Clarity editorial.
Sourced to primary IRS materials and editorially reviewed. Not reviewed by a tax professional. Not tax advice.
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Where to go next
The IRS publishes the rules this page describes. Your own notice governs your dates.