By Pedro Bianco
En esta noticia
When a taxpayer builds up a debt with the IRS and does not pay it or reach an agreement in time, the agency has a powerful collection tool: a wage levy.
Contrary to what many people believe, this is not a small fixed percentage taken once but a withholding that can take most of the paycheck and repeats with every payment.
IRS Garnishes a Large Share of Some Debtors’ Wages Month by Month
A wage levy is an order the IRS sends to an employer so it can withhold part of an employee’s pay and send it directly to the agency toward an unpaid tax debt. The employer is legally required to comply: once it receives the notice (Forms 668-W), it must start deducting the required amount and sending it to the IRS.
The legal basis is Section 6331 of the Internal Revenue Code, which authorizes the IRS to seize the property and income of anyone with a final debt who does not resolve it. Wages are one type of income it can reach, along with bank accounts, refunds and other payments.
It Is Not a Fixed Percentage: How Much the IRS Can Withhold
This is where the biggest difference from other levies comes in. In the case of Social Security, for example, the IRS withholds at most 15% of the benefit. With wages, it works the other way around: instead of setting how much it takes, the law sets how much is exempt, and the IRS takes the rest.
That exempt amount is usually low, so the deduction can cover a large part of the paycheck.
The amount that remains protected is calculated based on the standard deduction and the number of dependents the worker can claim, according to IRS Publication 1494 tables, which are updated every year (the 2026 tables increased from those for 2025).
The IRS sends that publication with the levy order so the employer knows how to calculate it.
It Is an Ongoing Levy: It Repeats With Every Paycheck
Another key feature is that a wage levy is not a one-time collection. It is ongoing: once it hits a paycheck, it stays in effect and applies to each pay period, weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on how the worker is paid, until one of three things happens:
- The worker pays the debt in full
- The worker reaches another agreement with the IRS
- The agency releases the levy.
In the meantime, the deduction is automatically renewed paycheck after paycheck.