Venar Ayar - Can The IRS Garnish Wages From Both You And Your Spouse

The IRS can garnish the wages of both you and your spouse for joint tax debt. The IRS policy is generally to garnish the wages of the higher earning spouse, but they may deviate from this rule if you’ve flagrantly refused to pay your tax debt.

Wage Garnishment

When you owe tax debt and the IRS has sent you several notices demanding payment, you may be at risk for enforced collections. A wage garnishment is a common IRS collection tactic, which involves taking a portion of each paycheck you receive and applying it to your tax debt.

A taxpayer gets an exempt amount that cannot be garnished based on their filing status and number of dependents. For example, a married taxpayer who files jointly and has two dependents will receive $2,733.33 per month. The rest of your wages will be sent to the IRS until your tax debt is paid off in full.

If you receive any bonuses or commissions, the IRS can also seize 100% of these amounts.

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