What percentage can the IRS take from your paycheck?
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What percentage can the IRS take from your paycheck?
I have told many things. I was told 25% of anything over $200-300 weekly gross.
Asked on July 18, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Kentucky
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The IRS does not garnish a set amount from a taxpayers paycheck. It takes all of their paycheck except for a specific amount that is considered to be "exempt" from levy. The amount that the IRS will leave you after the garnishment is based upon the number of exemptions you claimed on your W-4 and the frequency of your paycheck. The IRS will send a table to your employer with the garnishment that tells them how much to leave you. This table tells them the maximum amount they can pay you not the amount they can take through the garnishment. Therefore no matter how much money you make, the IRS is going to leave you with the same amount of take-home pay (i.e. the amount that is exempt from levy). Anything above that amount goes to the IRS. This means that any overtime that you earn is going to be sent to the IRS via the garnishment. S to reiterate - there is no a set percentage that the IRS can take. If you don't make a lot of money, an IRS garnishment may only come out to 30% of your pay; if you earn a lot the garnishment may be for up to 90% of your pay.
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