Updated December 2025
If you’re currently dealing with a wage levy, rest assured that there are ways to stop it. This blog post will discuss ways to stop IRS wage garnishment, but understand that each approach involves tackling your tax problem head-on and working with the IRS to find a resolution.
Contact Wiggam Law to learn more about these options and decide which one is best for you.
Key Takeaways
- Before garnishing your wages, the IRS must assess a tax against you, send you a tax bill, send you reminder notices, send a final notice of intent to levy, and notify your employer.
- There are several ways to temporarily stop wage garnishment, such as declaring bankruptcy, obtaining Currently Not Collectible status, or requesting a Collection Due Process hearing appeal.
- Stopping the wage garnishment indefinitely requires a payment plan (or installment agreement), full payment of the tax debt, or an offer in compromise.
A Brief Overview of Tax Levies
An IRS levy is an action by the IRS to collect an unpaid tax debt by seizing a taxpayer’s property. A tax levy is not to be confused with a tax lien, which is merely a legal claim against the taxpayer’s property.
If you’ve been ignoring IRS notices and letters about unpaid taxes, it could eventually lead to a tax levy. One of the most common types of tax levies is wage garnishment, which entails the IRS taking a portion of a paycheck.
The Wage Garnishment Process
Generally speaking, the IRS will only levy your paycheck with wage garnishment after all of the following have occurred:
- The IRS assessed a tax against you. This often occurs after the IRS examines your tax return, whether it’s one you filed or one the IRS filed for you.
- The IRS sent you a tax bill, sometimes known as a Notice and Demand for Payment (CP14).
- You ignored the tax bill and additional reminder notices, such as CP501 and/or CP503.
- The IRS sent you a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. These can include letters like CP504, CP90, LT1058, and/or LT11.
- The IRS provided you with at least 30 days’ notice from the date of a Final Notice of Intent to Levy before implementing the levy. One exception to the 30-day waiting period is when the IRS executes a jeopardy levy.
- The IRS notified your employer about the levy. This is typically done by sending Form 668-W to your employer.
Summary of Wage Garnishment Timeline
| IRS Action | Relevant Documents | How To Respond | When To Respond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Assessment | Tax Return | N/A | N/A |
| Initial Tax Bill | CP14, Notice and Demand for Payment | Make arrangements to pay the balance owed immediately or over time. | Within 21 days |
| Reminder Letters | CP501 and/or CP503 | Contact the IRS to discuss a resolution or seek help from a tax professional. | As soon as possible |
| Notice of Intent to Levy | CP504, CP90, LT1058, and/or LT11 | Contact the IRS to discuss a resolution or seek help from a tax professional. | Within 30 days (if choosing to appeal the levy by requesting a Collection Due Process hearing). |
| Employer Notification | Form 668-W | Contact the IRS to discuss a resolution or seek help from a tax professional. | As soon as possible |
| Wage Garnishment Begins | N/A | Contact the IRS to discuss a resolution or seek help from a tax professional. | As soon as possible |
How to Legally Stop IRS Wage Garnishment
Before discussing how to stop wage garnishment, understand that the various methods for stopping an IRS tax levy require some level of effort, time, or financial resources (and in some cases, all three) from you. Below are some of the most common options, starting with the most effective.
Pay Your Tax Debt in Full
This is the fastest way to stop a wage levy and get the IRS off your back. It’s also probably the most difficult, but it’s an option to think about if you have access to enough funds.
Challenge the Tax Debt
The IRS isn’t perfect and sometimes tries to collect a tax debt that doesn’t exist, doesn’t belong to the taxpayer, or is in the wrong amount. In these and similar situations, you can file an appeal. If you haven’t had a chance to appeal the amount of tax due yet, you can address that during a CDP hearing.
Appeal
Even if you can’t successfully challenge the tax debt itself, filing an appeal can temporarily stop the wage garnishment during the appeal. This is the case if you file an appeal by requesting a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing. If you request an equivalent hearing, it won’t necessarily stop the garnishment, but it will allow you to discuss payment options with the IRS.
Establish Economic Hardship
Unless your outstanding tax balance relates to a criminal offense (like tax evasion), you can’t go to jail simply for owing the IRS money. This is why proving to the IRS that you truly can’t pay even close to what you owe can be an effective strategy to stop wage levies and other tax collection activities.
One way to do this is to request Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status. If you qualify, the IRS will temporarily agree to halt tax collection actions, including wage garnishment, until your financial situation improves. Before requesting CNC status, there are a few things to consider.
First, it’s not easy to obtain CNC status unless you’re really struggling financially. And by really struggling, the IRS wants to see that if they collected almost any amount from you, you wouldn’t have enough money left over to pay for basic living expenses, such as rent, food, and utilities.
Second, penalties and interest can continue to accrue while the tax collection actions are on pause. The IRS can also place a tax lien on your property during this pause.
Third, the IRS has approximately ten years to collect the tax debt from you. If you’re in CNC status when the statute of limitations expires, the tax debt will cease to exist because the IRS will no longer be legally allowed to collect it.
Submit an Offer in Compromise
The Offer in Compromise (OIC) program allows eligible taxpayers to settle their tax debt for less than the full amount owed. When you hear tax debt relief companies advertise on television, radio, or online about how they can eliminate your tax debt for “pennies on the dollar,” this is often what they’re referring to.
The challenge with an OIC is that the IRS is picky about the offers it chooses to accept. If the IRS believes the taxpayer can eventually pay off their entire debt, even if it takes several years, the IRS isn’t likely to accept the OIC.
Declare Bankruptcy
Filing bankruptcy isn’t usually the best way to get rid of tax debts, but it does offer something called an automatic stay that can temporarily halt tax enforcement actions, including wage levies. There are limited situations where a bankruptcy can discharge a tax debt.
Set Up a Payment Plan or Installment Agreement
An installment agreement (or payment plan) might be the most realistic solution for stopping wage garnishments. These allow you to pay off your entire tax debt (the full tax balance, plus any applicable penalties and interest) over time, ranging from 180 days to several years.
The fact that you still have to pay your full tax debt is the biggest drawback of a payment plan or installment agreement. Yet this is likely the quickest and easiest IRS program to qualify for that will stop the IRS from garnishing your wages. Don’t assume that setting up a payment plan will stop an in-progress garnishment – once you’re at this stage, you need to talk with the IRS before setting up payments to ensure you’ll get the relief you need.
Summary of Wage Garnishment Resolution Options
| Resolution Option | When To Consider | Speed of Levy Release | Key Requirements or Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Payment | When you have access to enough capital to pay off your entire debt. | Immediate | You have to pay off your entire tax debt all at once. |
| Tax Debt Appeal | When you believe the IRS is trying to collect a tax debt that doesn’t belong to you or is in the wrong amount. | Requesting a CDP hearing can quickly pause the wage levy for the duration of the appeal. | The window to file an appeal is usually limited to just 30 days from the date of the levy notice. |
| Currently Not Collectible Status | You’re suffering from severe economic hardship and struggle just to pay for basic living expenses. | Several weeks or more | You’ll need to provide detailed financial information by completing IRS Form 433-A or Form 433-B, plus additional documentation in support. |
| Offer in Compromise | You can afford to only pay part of your entire tax debt, even if given extra time to make payments. | Six months or more | You need to complete extensive paperwork and provide the IRS with detailed information about your financial status. |
| Bankruptcy | You have debts other than those with the IRS that are eligible for discharge. | Immediate | If the tax debt isn’t discharged, the IRS may be able to garnish once the bankruptcy case is resolved. |
| Payment Plan or Installment Agreement | You can afford to pay off your full tax debt, but need extra time to do so. | Within a few weeks, but possibly longer. | You need to provide financial information about your income and living expenses. If you apply online, you can get an approval decision within minutes. |
Get IRS Wage Garnishment Help From Wiggam Law
Figuring out which IRS program is best for your situation is difficult enough. Then once that’s figured out, you still need to fill out the paperwork, submit the documents, and understand the rules and requirements. Thankfully, there are tax professionals who can help with all this, such as those from Wiggam Law.
We offer consultations, and our tax professionals have years of experience helping taxpayers like yourself navigate wage garnishment. Get started by calling (404) 233-9800 or using our online contact form.
Stopping IRS Wage Garnishment FAQs
Can I quickly reverse a wage garnishment?
Yes, the fastest way to reverse a wage garnishment is by paying your tax debt in full or negotiating a payment option. The faster you reach a resolution with the IRS, the faster you can reverse the wage garnishment.
How long does it take to stop IRS wage garnishment?
It depends on how long it takes to negotiate a tax debt settlement resolution with the IRS. For example, setting up a short-term payment plan will generally lead the IRS to immediately release a wage levy. In contrast, an offer in compromise can sometimes take six months or more to negotiate, so reversing the garnishment in that scenario will take longer.
Can the IRS garnish 100% of my wages?
It depends on how much of your income is exempt from IRS wage garnishment and how many sources of income you have. The exempt amount is based on the standard deduction, plus deductions for personal exemptions. If you have multiple sources of income, it’s possible for the IRS to apply this exemption amount to one source of income, but not the other.
For instance, let’s say you earn $500 a week from Employer A and $1,500 a week from Employer B. Let’s also assume that $500 of your income is exempt from a wage levy. It’s possible for the IRS to levy 100% of your paycheck from Employer B and leave your paycheck from Employer A untouched.
Can the IRS garnish my retirement benefits or other sources of income?
Yes. For example, the IRS can levy up to 15% of your Social Security payments for overdue tax obligations using an automated levy, and the agency may be able to seize more with a manual levy. Note that some pensions and retirement payments may be exempt from garnishment.
Can I stop a wage levy even if I can’t afford to pay my entire tax debt?
Yes, but you’ll need to contact the IRS to discuss other payment or tax resolution options, such as a payment plan, installment agreement, or an offer in compromise.
Can I prevent my employer from learning about my tax problems?
Normally, the IRS is prohibited from sharing your tax information with third parties; however, an exception applies to tax debt collection efforts, including wage levies. Your employer is legally obligated to cooperate with the IRS or face monetary penalties themselves if they refuse to do so.
Sources
https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/tax-tips/what-to-do-if-you-receive-an-irs-balance-due-notice-for-taxes-you-have-already-paid/2025/06/
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/jeopirm.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/appeals/collection-due-process-cdp-faqs
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/information-about-wage-levies
https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/questions/KA-01873.html
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-bill-of-rights-7
https://philalegal.org/resources/CNC
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/what-if-i-file-for-bankruptcy-protection
https://www.irs.gov/payments/payment-plans-installment-agreements
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-payment-plan-options-fast-easy-and-secure
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-self-service-payment-plan-options-fast-easy-and-secure
https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/currently-not-collectible/
