Miami Wage Garnishment Attorney
When taxpayers owe the IRS an overdue payment, the agency has a number of different ways to force collection, including wage garnishment. Garnishing a taxpayer’s wages is a legal procedure in which a person’s earnings are withheld by an employer for the payment of the liability. While federal law bars employers from terminating any employee whose wages are subject to garnishment, this type of IRS action can have other negative repercussions for taxpayers, who may find themselves in dire financial straits, or unable to pay necessary expenses. To learn more about wage garnishment and how to prevent the seizure of your own paycheck, please call our experienced Miami wage garnishment attorney today.
What is Wage Garnishment?
Taxpayers who are behind on their payments to the IRS could end up the recipient of an order allowing the agency to seize a portion of their paycheck every month. Although the IRS, unlike other creditors, are not required to obtain a court order before garnishing a person’s wages, they do need to send a number of warnings to the taxpayers in advance, including:
- A notice and demand for payment;
- A notice of intent to levy; and
- A notice of the right to a Collection Due Process hearing.
If a taxpayer decides to attend the hearing, he or she will have the opportunity to ask the IRS to enter into a payment agreement, or can dispute the tax entirely. It is important, however, for those who go this route to remember that taxpayers must request a hearing within 30 days of the receipt of the notice.
How Much Can the IRS Take From My Wages?
How much the IRS can garnish from a person’s wages depends on a number of factors, including:
- The taxpayer’s filing status;
- The number of dependents claimed by the taxpayer; and
- The pay period in question.
Once these factors have been assessed, the IRS uses a specific table to determine how much can be garnished from a taxpayer’s wages every month, while still allowing that person to pay basic expenses. Despite this, in many cases, the IRS ends up taking more than half of a person’s paycheck to cover a liability.
Ending Wage Garnishment
The garnishment of a person’s wages by the IRS will remain in place until the taxpayer:
- Pays off what he or she owes to the IRS;
- Sets up a payment plan with the IRS, such as a monthly installment agreement;
- Proves that the levy is creating a financial hardship;
- Files an Offer in Compromise agreement request;
- Demonstrates that the deadline for collecting back taxes has passed;
- Enters bankruptcy; or
- Proves that the garnishment was wrongful.
It’s important to note, however, that the release of a wage garnishment order doesn’t always mean that the taxpayer in question is exempt from paying the balance of what he or she owes.
Schedule a Free Consultation Today
If you recently received a letter notifying you that the IRS will soon be attempting to garnish your wages, please don’t hesitate to reach out to experienced Miami wage garnishment lawyer Ronald Cutler, P.A. to learn more about your legal options. You can set up a free case review with a member of our dedicated legal team by calling 386-490-9949 today.
