IRS wage garnishment and levies: how they work and how to stop one

An IRS levy permits the legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. It can garnish wages, take money in your bank or other financial account, and seize and sell your vehicles, real estate and other personal property. A levy on your pay is what most people call a wage garnishment: if the IRS levies your wages, part of your wages is sent to the IRS each pay period until you make other arrangements to pay your overdue taxes, the overdue taxes are paid, or the levy is released. To stop one, call the IRS right away at the number on the levy or notice: the IRS must release a levy if you pay what you owe, enter into a payment plan whose terms do not allow the levy to continue, or the levy creates an economic hardship. The IRS usually has to send a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing at least 30 days before it seizes property, so a notice is your chance to act.

On this page: what to do first, before a levy, how much of your pay is exempt, what else the IRS can take, how to stop a levy, your right to a hearing and free help.

What to do first if you have a notice or a levy

1. Find the date on the notice. A Final Notice of Intent to Levy gives you 30 days from the date of the letter to ask for a Collection Due Process hearing. More on that below.
2. Call the IRS. If you cannot pay the full amount due, pay as much as you can. If you do not qualify for the IRS online payment options, call the number on your bill to explain your situation, and have your financial information ready, including your monthly income and expenses. Based on your ability to pay, the IRS may offer alternatives such as a payment plan.
3. File any missing returns. Before the IRS will consider a payment plan request, you must be current on all filing and payment requirements, and people in an open bankruptcy proceeding generally are not eligible. See how to file back taxes.
4. Ask about your options. The IRS cannot issue a new levy if you have a current or pending payment plan or offer in compromise, or if it agrees that you are unable to pay because of economic hardship, meaning that seizing your property would leave you unable to meet basic, reasonable living expenses. See IRS payment plans and offer in compromise.
5. Appeal in writing if you disagree. Before you formally appeal a levy notice, you may be able to work out a solution with the Collection office that sent it by calling the number on the notice. That contact does not extend the 30-day period to make a written request for a Collection Due Process hearing.
6. Get free help if you qualify from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (free or a small fee, for people with lower incomes) or the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

What the IRS must do before it can levy

1. A bill. If you owe tax, the IRS sends a bill. If you do not pay the first bill, it sends at least one more. If you still do not pay after the final bill, it begins collection actions, which can range from applying your later refunds to the tax due to seizing your property and assets.
2. Notice CP504. Notice CP504 is a Notice of Intent to Levy under Internal Revenue Code section 6331(d). It means the IRS has not received payment of your unpaid balance and intends to levy. With this notice the IRS can take a state tax refund you are owed; before it levies your wages, bank accounts or other property, it may send you a notice giving you a right to a hearing, if you have not already received one. That notice, the formal Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing (LT11 or Letter 1058), is the next step after the CP504. The IRS says it is in your best interest to respond to the CP504 and to call the number on it to discuss your payment options.
3. The Final Notice. A Letter 1058 or LT11 means the IRS has not received payment for overdue taxes and intends to seize your property or rights to property. The IRS says you must contact it immediately. The letter also explains how to ask for an appeal of the proposed levy. The IRS usually seizes property only after it assessed the tax and sent you a bill, you neglected or refused to pay, and it sent you a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing at least 30 days before the seizure.

The IRS does not have to offer you a hearing at least 30 days before it seizes property in a few situations: when collection of the tax is in jeopardy, when a levy is served to collect from a state tax refund, when a levy is served to collect the tax debt of a federal contractor, and when a Disqualified Employment Tax Levy is served. In those cases it sends you a letter explaining the seizure and your appeal rights after the levy is issued.

The cost of waiting also rises. If you do not pay your tax within 10 days after you receive a notice of the IRS's intent to levy, the failure to pay penalty is 1% per month or partial month.

How much of your paycheck the IRS can take

Part of your wages may be exempt from the levy, and the exempt amount is paid to you. The exempt amount is based on the standard deduction and an amount determined in part by the number of dependents you are allowed for the year the levy is served. The IRS mails Publication 1494 with the levy to explain to your employer how to figure the exempt amount. The IRS serves a levy on wages, salary or commissions once, not each time you are paid. The one levy continues until your debt is fully paid, other arrangements are made, the collection period ends, or the levy is released.

In other words, the exempt amount is what you keep from each paycheck while the levy is in place, and the rest of that pay can go to the IRS.

The IRS tables show how much of your take-home pay is exempt from a notice of levy used to collect delinquent tax in 2026, by pay period and filing status. Each row below gives the exempt amount with no dependents, and the amount added for each dependent you claim.

Married filing separately uses the same amounts as single. Amounts are exempt take-home pay for levies served in 2026, from Publication 1494 as revised in December 2025.

The IRS gives these examples. A single taxpayer who is paid weekly and claims three dependents has $615.38 exempt from levy. If that taxpayer is over 65 and enters 1 for the additional standard deduction on the levy form, $654.80 is exempt ($615.38 plus $39.42). A taxpayer who is married, files jointly, is paid biweekly and claims two dependents has $1,646.16 exempt from levy. Taxpayers who are at least 65 years old and/or blind have an additional exempt amount, shown in a second table in Publication 1494.

Your employer will give you a Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to complete and return within three days. If you do not return it in three days, your exempt amount is figured as if you are married filing separately with no dependents.

If you have other sources of income, the IRS may allocate the exemptions to the other income source and levy on 100% of the income from a particular employer.

What else the IRS can take

If you do not pay your taxes or make arrangements to settle your debt, and the IRS decides a levy is the next step, it may levy any property or right to property you own or have an interest in. It can levy property that is yours but held by someone else, such as wages, retirement accounts, dividends, bank accounts, licenses, rental income, accounts receivable, the cash loan value of your life insurance or commissions. It can also seize and sell property you hold, such as your car, boat or house.

• Bank accounts. When the levy is on a bank account, the law gives a 21-day waiting period for complying with the levy. The waiting period is meant to give you time to contact the IRS and arrange to pay the tax, or to tell the IRS about errors in the levy. Funds in the account are frozen as of the date and time the bank receives the levy, and normally the levy does not affect funds you add to the account after the date of the levy. After a bank levy is issued, the bank holds the available funds and gives you 21 days to resolve any disputes about who owns the account before sending the money to the IRS. After 21 days the bank sends the IRS your money and any interest earned on it, unless you have resolved the issue in another way.
• Federal payments. Certain federal payments are seized through the Federal Payment Levy Program. Under it the IRS can generally seize up to 15% of your 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 payments include federal retirement annuity income from the Office of Personnel Management, Social Security benefits and federal contractor and vendor payments.
• Social Security. Social Security old age and survivors benefits are levied at 15% through the Federal Payment Levy Program. Since October 5, 2015 the IRS no longer systemically levies Social Security disability insurance benefits through the program. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, lump sum death benefits and benefits paid to children are not levied through the program, and the program excludes certain taxpayers whose income is at or below levels based on the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines. Because the program collects tax debts, the IRS may levy your Social Security benefits regardless of the amount. The rule that the first $750 of monthly Social Security benefits is off limits applies to non-tax debts. The program levies 15% of the benefit even if what remains is less than $750.
• Retirement accounts. A levy can reach a retirement account, including qualified pension, profit sharing and stock bonus plans, IRAs, retirement plans for the self-employed and the Thrift Savings Plan. Depending on the terms of the plan, a levy may attach to the funds in which you have a vested right.
• State tax refunds. Under the State Income Tax Levy Program the IRS may take your state income tax refund if you owe federal tax. The state sends you a notice of the levy. The IRS sends a notice after the levy that offers a chance to appeal, unless you already received a notice of intent to levy that advised you of your right to a hearing.
• A house, car or other property. If the IRS seizes your house or other property, it sells your interest in the property and applies the proceeds, after the costs of the sale, to your tax debt. Before selling, it calculates a minimum bid price, gives you a copy and a chance to challenge the fair market value, and announces the sale to the public. It generally waits at least 10 days after public notice before it sells the property. If money is left over after the debt is paid, the IRS tells you how to get a refund.
• What the IRS cannot take. Some property is exempt from seizure. For example, the IRS cannot seize unemployment benefits, certain annuity and pension benefits, certain service-connected disability payments, workers' compensation, certain public assistance payments, or income for court-ordered child support payments. The IRS also cannot seize your property unless it expects the net proceeds to help pay off your tax debt.

How to stop or release a levy

Contact the IRS immediately to resolve your tax liability and request a levy release. If the IRS denies your request to release the levy, you may appeal that decision, before or after the IRS places a levy on your wages, bank account or other property. After levy money has been sent to the IRS, you may file a claim to have it returned to you.

The IRS is required to release a levy if it determines that:

• You paid the amount you owe.
• The period for collection ended before the levy was issued.
• Releasing the levy will help you pay your taxes.
• You enter into an installment agreement and its terms do not allow the levy to continue.
• The levy creates an economic hardship, meaning the IRS has determined the levy prevents you from meeting basic, reasonable living expenses.
• The value of the property is more than the amount owed and releasing the levy will not hinder the IRS from collecting the amount owed.

The release of a levy does not mean you do not have to pay the balance due. You must still make arrangements with the IRS to resolve your tax debt, or a levy may be issued again.

Pay, or set up a payment plan

The IRS says it will generally not take enforced collection actions while a payment plan is being considered, while a plan is in effect, for 30 days after a request is rejected or a plan is terminated, or while it evaluates an appeal of a rejected or terminated agreement. See IRS payment plans for who can apply, what a plan costs and how to keep it.

Ask for a release because of hardship

Contact the IRS at the telephone number on the levy or the letter right away and explain your financial situation. If a levy on your wages is creating an immediate economic hardship, the levy must be released. If a levy on your bank account or other account is creating an immediate economic hardship, the levy may be released. The IRS will usually need financial information to decide, so be ready to give it when you call.

A levy release does not mean you are exempt from paying the balance. The IRS will work with you to set up a payment plan or take other steps to help you pay it.

If you cannot pay anything right now

If the IRS determines you cannot pay any of your tax debt because of a financial hardship, it may report your account as currently not collectible until your financial condition improves. The IRS may then temporarily suspend certain collection actions, such as issuing a levy, but it may still file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien. The debt does not go away, and penalties and interest continue to accrue.

If the IRS made a mistake

The IRS also releases a levy that was issued improperly. Examples are a levy issued against exempt property, too early, before the IRS sent the required notice, while you were in bankruptcy with an automatic stay in effect, or while a payment plan request, an innocent spouse relief request or an offer in compromise was being considered or was in effect.

Your right to a hearing

You can request a Collection Due Process hearing with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals within 30 days from the date of your Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. Send the request, on Form 12153 or in a letter with the same information, to the address on your notice. A timely request keeps your right to ask the U.S. Tax Court to review the decision. If your request is late, you can ask for an equivalent hearing within one year from the date of the notice, but you cannot go to court if you disagree with the decision.

During a Collection Due Process hearing, the 10-year period for collecting taxes is suspended and the IRS is generally prohibited from levying your property if levying is the subject of the hearing. During an equivalent hearing the IRS is permitted to levy, although it normally does not, and the 10-year period is not suspended.

In a Collection Due Process hearing you can propose collection alternatives, such as a payment plan or an offer in compromise. It may be necessary to give the IRS financial information or tax returns to qualify for such alternatives. You are entitled to only one levy hearing for each tax period or assessment.

Under the Collection Appeals Program, if you disagree with an IRS employee's decision about a levy, seizure or Notice of Federal Tax Lien, you can ask for a conference with the employee's manager. For a levy on wages or a bank account there is no deadline to ask, but the collection action may go forward if you do not ask within a reasonable time. If you still disagree, you can ask the Independent Office of Appeals to review the case. You cannot go to court after a Collection Appeals Program decision. If the IRS has seized your house, car or other property to sell it, ask for the manager conference within 10 business days after the Notice of Seizure. To go on to Appeals, tell the Collection office within 2 business days after the manager conference that you plan to file Form 9423, Collection Appeal Request, and make sure the form is received or postmarked within 3 business days of that conference.

Free help with a levy

• Low Income Taxpayer Clinics: Low Income Taxpayer Clinics represent people in audits, appeals and collection disputes with the IRS, for free or a small fee. Clinics generally serve people with income at or below 250% of the federal poverty guidelines (for 2026, $39,900 for a single person in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.; Alaska and Hawaii have higher figures). Each clinic decides whether you qualify. Clinics are independent of the IRS. Find a clinic.
• Taxpayer Advocate Service: an independent organization within the IRS that may be able to help with a tax problem you have not been able to resolve with the IRS, and its service is free if you qualify. Contact TAS.

When a tax professional makes sense

You can call the IRS yourself. A tax professional (a CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney or tax firm) can help if a levy has already started, you owe for several years, or you are not sure which option fits. During the collection process or an appeal, you can represent yourself or be represented by an attorney, a certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, an immediate family member, or any person enrolled to practice before the IRS. To have your representative contact the IRS for you, file Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. Ask about the fee up front. Our guide to paid tax help explains how to choose.