A wage garnishment — the IRS calls it a wage levy — is one of the agency’s most powerful collection tools. Under IRC §6331, the IRS orders your employer to withhold a large portion of each paycheck and send it directly to the government. It is "continuous": once served, it stays in force paycheck after paycheck until the debt is satisfied or the IRS releases it.

How much the IRS takes is set by a statutory exemption table, not by the ordinary consumer-protection limits that apply to other creditors. What you keep is based on your filing status and dependents — often only a few hundred dollars per pay period — and the rest goes to the IRS. That’s why a wage levy is usually the point at which people seek help fast.

Governing statute
IRC §6331 (levy); §6343 (release)
Type
Continuous levy — recurs every paycheck
Required notice
Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11 / CP90)
Response window
30 days for a CDP hearing
Fastest release routes
Installment agreement or proven hardship

The notice that comes first

The IRS cannot garnish wages without warning. It must send a Final Notice of Intent to Levy — typically a Letter LT11 or CP90 — and give you 30 days to respond. Critically, that notice carries the right to a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing. Requesting a CDP hearing within the 30-day window stops the levy from taking effect and moves your case to an independent appeals officer.

If you missed that window and the garnishment is already active, you still have options — they just run through the collection function rather than appeals.

— Continuous levy —
A wage garnishment does not stop by itself — it takes from every paycheck until released. The sooner a payment plan or hardship claim is on file, the sooner it lifts.

How to get a garnishment released

Under IRC §6343, the IRS must release a levy in several situations. The practical routes to a release are:

  • Enter an installment agreement — the IRS generally releases a wage levy once a payment plan is in place.
  • Prove economic hardship — if the garnishment prevents you from meeting basic living expenses, the IRS must release it and may place your account in currently-not-collectible status.
  • File a pending Offer in Compromise — which pauses collection while it’s under review.
  • Show the levy was issued in error or the collection statute has expired.
  • Pay the balance or demonstrate that release would help collection.

Why speed matters here

Every pay period under a garnishment is money gone — and unlike a bank levy, there’s no 21-day pause. Because a release most often comes bundled with a resolution the IRS will accept (a payment plan, hardship status, or an offer), the fastest path is usually to package the release request together with the underlying resolution. A representative with a Form 2848 can contact the IRS on your behalf and, in many cases, negotiate the release and the plan in the same call.