Form 668-W (Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income)
The levy form the IRS serves on an employer. It is continuous — it keeps taking from each pay period until one of three things happens.
Full Definition
Form 668-W is the notice of levy the IRS serves on an employer to reach wages, salary and other income. The IRS refers to it as Form 668-W(c)(DO) and Form 668-W(ICS).
What makes it different from a bank levy is that it does not attach to a single moment. The IRS states that if it levies your wages, part of your wages will be sent to it EACH PAY PERIOD until one of three things happens: you make other arrangements to pay the overdue taxes, the amount owed is paid, or the levy is released.
Part of your pay is exempt. The IRS mails Publication 1494 to the employer with the levy, explaining how to work out the exempt amount, and the employer gives you a Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to complete and return WITHIN THREE DAYS. The IRS states that if you do not return it in three days, the exempt amount is figured as if you were married filing separately with no dependents.
Two things people are caught by. A bonus paid separately is not separately exempt — the IRS states it would receive the entire bonus, because the exempt amount is based on the pay period, and that salary or wages for levy purposes includes fees, commissions and bonuses. And where you have other income sources, the IRS states it may allocate the exemptions to another source and levy 100% of the income from a particular employer.
What to do next
If a wage levy has been served, the three-day statement is the most time-critical thing on it. Returning it late means the exempt amount is computed as married filing separately with no dependents, which is the smallest figure the table produces.
What this page does not say
- The Form 668-W PDF on irs.gov is an image with no extractable text, so the wording printed on the form itself has not been read. Everything here comes from the IRS page describing it.
Sources
- Information about wage levies — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Publication 1494 (Rev. 12-2025), amounts exempt from levy on wages — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-08-20
Last reviewed 2026-08-21 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.