IRS Wage Garnishment

The Internal Revenue Code authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect taxes by levy upon a taxpayer’s property or rights to property if the taxpayer neglects or refuses to pay the tax within 10 days after receiving a notice and demand to pay the tax. The IRS can levy a taxpayer’s salary and wages, bank accounts, or other money that is owed to the taxpayer. An IRS levy on your bank account or an IRS wage garnishment can result in economic hardship. It can render you unable to pay critical business and personal expenses.

These type of seizure actions are very easy for the IRS to accomplish. The IRS wanted your attention, and now they have it. Of course, the consequences upon you and your family are immediate, and many times devastating. My law practice is devoted to IRS tax collection matters. An IRS levy or garnishment is an urgent matter.

IRS levy and IRS Wage Garnishment War Room - Stories of the American Taxpayer along with actual case studies (below).

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The frustration and devastation which Americans feel when hit by an IRS levy, Wage garnishment, Wage levy, Pay levy or IRS Tax Levy, by whatever name you call it in your panicked response, is very real - and you are not alone. Unless you have been subjected to such economic and savage personal attack, you probably can’t begin to relate. The checks you wrote are bouncing, bank charges are mounting and your family needs food. The housing needs to be paid and the utility company is threatening to shut off your electric power. The IRS levy or Wage Garnishment is causing additional damage.

You previously put off responding to the prior notices from the IRS - rationalizing that you will get to it "later". Well, "later" has come. You call the IRS and they want your name, social security number and bank account information. You explain that they already have it because the IRS levy just cleaned out your entire bank account. Or, they ask "where do you work". Again, they have the information because your pay check has been nailed by the IRS garnishment. The IRS continues to ask you an onslaught of questions about your financial situation (e.g., your rent amount, your utilities, where you work, where your spouse works, etc...). You begin to feel that the IRS person is merely regurgitating questions to you and is robotically typing your information into a computer system. You wonder - are they even thinking? But, you need the IRS levy release or wage garnishment release. The scary reality is that in many cases the IRS employee is just keypunching and are waiting for the computer to give them an answer. Moreover, many times they aren’t even entering your data correctly. Your "sixth sense" tells you that something isn’t right. But you continue on. You answer the questions without preparation and review of your actual information and the law. You feel that being cooperative will help you get the IRS levy release or Wage garnishment release.

What have you done to yourself? In reality, you have provided the IRS with a roadmap to assets and income sources for future IRS levy and IRS seizure action. Further, without proper factual review and legal analysis before calling, you were not prepared, and have not taken into account all of your necessary living expenses and legal provisions. The result, the IRS employee advises you that you must pay a certain amount per month which you actually can’t afford. You agree to the number out of desperation to merely get some relief from the IRS levy or Wage garnishment. For the moment, however, your are glad to get the IRS off of your back.

What has the IRS done to you? The IRS has set you up to fail. The problem: your "agreement" wasn’t based upon economic reality and most probably doesn’t involve a long term plan of action to resolve your tax problem. You struggle through the year. When the due date comes for the tax return, you file your tax return with a balance due and can’t pay. You again delay proper response. You don’t know what to do and are paralyzed.. You default your agreement and the IRS again issues another IRS levy or Wage garnishment. Now when you call, the IRS condescendingly states - "you had an agreement before and didn’t live up to it". Now, the IRS refuses to release the IRS levy or Wage garnishment.