IRS Wage Garnishment Methodology

The problem with IRS wage garnishments is that once the IRS take action by notifying your employer of the requirement to undertake a garnishment of wages, your employer actually has no choice at all.  They must enforce the request and start taking moneyout of your wage check.

The level of income the IRS is supposed to take, as a maximum is 25%.  But there have been reported cases where the IRS has taken nearly 80% wage garnishment.  The problem is that the amount is dependant upon what is called disposable income, and those in financial difficulties are often not in a great position to argue what is disposable income and what is not.  In this way the IRS can sometimes seem as though it can literally do as it pleases, regardless of the law.  Can you imagine trying to live on a salary that has been cut by nearly 80%.  It would be almost impossible.

Why Does The IRS Use Wage Garnishment

Of course, we need to look at the route cause of the IRS wage garnishment and that is clearly an unpaid tax debt.  If you want to know how to stop IRS wage garnishment then the best and simplest way is to make sure that you pay your taxes on time and in full.  The purpose of the IRS wage garnishment is to encourage you to return to prompt payment ways in the event that you slip and do not make payment on time.  But wage garnishment is not the only mechanism that the IRS has at its disposal in order to recover your unpaid IRS debt.  It can use the IRS wage levy that we have already discussed, but it can also make property seizures, or levies, in particular the IRS bank levy, effectively confiscating your bank account balances.

These secondary levies tend to be the result of you not actually having employment and therefore the IRS has difficulty with wage garnishment, instead having to opt for taking over your property or savings.  In the event of property seizures, these will be sold at a public auction and the amount raised offset against your debt.

How To Stop Wage Garnishment

The IRS have a policy of trying to recover as much of the amount owed as quickly as possible.  It is for this reason that they often take what can be seen by individuals as taking an unfair amount out of your paycheck.  In essence the IRS wage garnishment is meant to act as a slap in the face, a way of grabbing your attention and making it clear that whatever your personal circumstances you do not default on your tax debts. You effectively have a choice.  Either you pay your outstanding debt or you retain the services of an IRS tax attorney.

The fact of the matter is that if you want your IRS wage garnishment lifted quickly, sometimes in as little as 48 hours, then you need to counter the IRS tax raising expertise with a little expertise of your own, and the only way you can do this is to appoint your own IRS tax attorney.  So, if you want to know how to stop IRS wage garnishment the advice is clear and simple; appoint an IRS tax attorney to argue with the IRS on your behalf. Do not think it is good advice take on the IRS alone. You may have heard this from other sources, but the cost of your IRS tax attorney may well be difficult to pay, but it may well be a great deal less than the amount you end up paying under an aggressive IRS wage garnishment.

How The IRS Wage Garnishment Begins

The first thing you receive will be notices from the IRS to pay your debt by a particular deadline.  If you ignore these notices you will quickly find the process of wage garnishment will begin quite quickly.  This is done by obtaining a writ of garnishment against you. At this point you may well find that your original debt has ballooned as the IRS has a habit of charging  quite high interest rates and charging you penalties on your outstanding amounts.  You can find that the  amount you owe, whilst clearly difficult to pay initially, can rapidly get completely out of hand.

Why You Should Avoid IRS Wage Garnishment

With the tough economic conditions that we are all suffering and with forecasts in many places of worse to come you should be aware that the government will not be raising the level of tax revenues that they were previously expecting, and talk of further stimulus programs are great, but the stimulus comes from previously collected tax revenues

All of this is not meant to be an economics lecture, only a warning.  As the government need to collect all the taxes they are due grows, so will the reach of IRS wage garnishment programs.  Some will lose their home and their livelihood as a result of IRS wage garnishment.  Make sure you are not one of these unfortunate few.

If you can possibly avoid it then avoid IRS wage garnishment. Don’t let yourself fall foul of the government when they need tax revenues more than they have ever done so.  Remember, if you find yourself a victim of wage garnishment appoint an IRS tax attorney quickly. It may be your only way to  avoid a harsh punishment.

Related posts:

1. What To Do About An IRS Bank Levy
2. IRS Tax Debt Settlement Help
3. How To Achieve A Tax Debt Settlement