If your wages are being garnished (attached) due to unpaid IRS tax debt, you have a few different options to stop (release) it.
If your employer has received an IRS Notice of Levy or Garnishment you need to move quickly to resolve your tax debt. Under the IRS Wage Levy Guidelines a single Taxpayer with one exemption will have all but $791.67 per month of his or her wages taken. A married Taxpayer claiming 4 exemptions will have all but $2,200.00 of his or her wages taken.
As you can see it would be nearly impossible for any family to survive on that amount of income. The IRS will require that the Taxpayer have filed all of his or her income tax returns and be having the correct amount of withholding taken out of their paycheck before considering any release or reduction in levy.
Options to Stop Wage Garnishment
Once these two qualifications are met an IRS wage levy or garnishment can be released by any of the following means:
1. Negotiation of hardship status. Basically prove to the IRS that the levy is causing you an immediate financial hardship. The IRS will require proof of eviction and or shut off notices before approving a hardship release of wage levy. So if the IRS wage levy will cause you to be evicted in the future but your not already on the verge of being evicted this option will not work for you.
2. Negotiation of currently not collectible status (CNC Status). If by providing the IRS proof of your financial situation we can prove you cannot meet your basic monthly living expenses the IRS will issue a release of wage levy. If your actual monthly living expenses exceed the IRS allowances for each expense category the negotiation will be more difficult.
3. Negotiation of a payment agreement. Depending on the amount owed and how much you can afford to pay negotiating a payment agreement may be the quickest way to release an IRS wage levy. The IRS will require us to provide a financial statement along with proof of your monthly income and expenses. I would then use these to negotiate a payment agreement that works within your budget which would result in the IRS wage levy being released.
Other Options
Those are the three most common means I use to negotiate a release of a IRS wage levy. There are also some administrative appeals we can file if the IRS failed to follow correct procedure in sending the levy notice, but that is a fairly uncommon situation. I will have most levies released within a day of being hired but sometimes it takes up to a week or two if there are a lot of missing tax returns that I need to prepare or the client has a particularly complex financial situation.
If you are currently under an IRS wage levy or garnishment I would ask that you call me or send me an e-mail at john@cotaxattorney.com as soon as possible. It is crucial that I have as much time as possible to negotiate a release before your nest pay date.