The IRS has many tools at its disposal to take your money and leave you penniless. The wage levy is another common and devastating tool employed by the IRS to take your money. If you ignore IRS notices regarding your back taxes, the bank and wage levy will happen. Do not let this happen to you. If the IRS comes for your paycheck, the Tyler & Dallas tax attorneys of the Scammahorn Law Firm, PC can help you fight back.
A wage garnishment is a debt collection tool employed by aggressive creditors. No creditor is more aggressive than the federal government. Typically, if you are in default on a loan or some other account, a creditor will seek a court judgment to collect from you through a variety of means, including garnishing your wages. Unlike other creditors, the IRS does not need a judgment to start garnishing your wages. The IRS will notify you before it starts a garnishment, but it does not need a court’s permission to do so.
Once the IRS has determined that you owe back taxes, they can notify your employer. Your employer will then withhold a certain amount from your paycheck and send it directly to the government–it is no longer your decision to pay. Imagine getting your check on payday to find that the IRS has taken most or all of your check, leaving you with a couple of hundred dollars or even nothing to pay your bills. In most cases, a wage levy is continuous, meaning that until the IRS agrees to release the levy, you are left with nearly no money to meet your basic living expenses.
There are limits on how much of your paycheck the IRS can garnish. The limits are, unfortunately, higher than those set for typical creditors. The IRS will determine how much to garnish based on how many dependents you have and your standard deduction amount. Typically, the IRS will take 25% or more of your income, regardless of whether that leaves you with enough money to cover your bills and expenses.
There are steps available to limit or stop the IRS or other creditors from garnishing your wages. The IRS will likely send you notices for months before beginning the garnishment process. Your best option is to find a way to stop wage garnishment before it happens. Hire a dedicated tax attorney as soon as possible to help limit your exposure and end the IRS inquiry before you start losing chunks of your paycheck.
Ideally, you can find a way to pay off the back taxes, with the help of your qualified Paycheck Garnishment Relief attorney, before the IRS begins garnishment. Take out a loan, sell off assets, or find some other way to pay them back. Your Paycheck Garnishment Relief Lawyer can also help you negotiate a compromise with the IRS to reduce your tax liability in appropriate situations.
Often, a savvy tax attorney can get the IRS to agree to an installment plan. This arrangement will give you a few years to pay off your IRS debt before they come after your wages directly. Even if your credit score is not perfect, as long as you have not shirked other debts in the past, the IRS should be open to this option.
You may be able to convince the IRS that garnishing your wages, or continuing to do so, creates an undue burden on your life. If you can demonstrate that wage garnishment leaves you unable to cover your basic living expenses, then the IRS may let up, at least until your financial situation improves. This can give you some much-needed time to get your finances in order. A knowledgeable Paycheck Garnishment Relief Attorney can help you determine if you qualify for financial hardship relief based on the formulas used by the IRS.
The Tyler & Dallas tax attorneys of the Scammahorn Law Firm will file appeals where appropriate and stop the IRS from levying your bank accounts, wages, and property. If the IRS has already issued a wage garnishment or bank levy, the Scammahorn Law Firm, PC will work with the IRS to remove the levies and resolve your IRS problems. Contact the Scammahorn Law Firm, PC today to put an end to the relentless collection activities of the Internal Revenue Service. We serve individuals and businesses throughout the State of Texas, including Tyler, Nacogdoches, Marshall, Longview, Palestine, Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, Odessa, Midland, San Antonio and Plano. Contact the Scammahorn Law Firm today.
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