Wage Garnishment
When the IRS requires your employer to withhold a portion of your wages to pay your tax debt.
Full Definition
Wage garnishment (also called wage levy) is when the IRS directs your employer to send a portion of your paycheck directly to the IRS to pay down your tax debt. The IRS is not subject to the percentage limits that apply to private creditors under consumer credit law. Instead, a dollar amount of your pay is exempt from the levy, based on the standard deduction and the number of dependents you are allowed — see Levy Exempt Amounts. Wage garnishment continues until the debt is paid, you enter into an alternative payment arrangement, or the levy is released.
What to do next
Check the notice or letter you actually received: the dates and instructions printed on it govern, not this page. The IRS page linked in Sources is the authority on the rule itself.
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 2026-08-20 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.