IRS wage garnishment: how much of each paycheck you keep
Enter your take-home pay, how often you are paid, the filing status and the number of dependents you claim on the levy statement. The calculator applies the 2026 Publication 1494 amounts.
- Exempt per dependent, per year
- $5,300
- Single, yearly base
- $16,100
- Married filing jointly, yearly base
- $32,200
- Table
- Publication 1494, Rev. 12-2025
Sent to the IRS each pay period
$1,013
You keep $1,336.55 of each paycheck (Publication 1494, 2026 table); the levy takes the rest until it is released.
| Exempt amount | $1,336.55 |
| Levied | $1,013 |
| Share of the paycheck levied | 43.1 % |
Child support ordered before the levy is also left to you. A payment plan or hardship status is the usual way to have a levy released.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rules and rates read on irs.gov · not tax advice, the IRS decides
An IRS wage levy, often called wage garnishment, is a continuous levy: once served, the employer sends the IRS part of every paycheck until the IRS releases it. Unlike most creditors, the IRS is not limited to a percentage of pay. The employer must leave you an exempt amount set by Publication 1494 and send the rest of your take-home pay. For 2026 the exempt amount equals the standard deduction for your filing status ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household) plus $5,300 for each dependent you claim on the levy statement, plus an extra amount for age 65 or blindness, divided by the number of pay periods. A single person paid every two weeks with no dependents keeps $619.23 per paycheck. A head of household with two dependents taking home $2,350 every two weeks keeps $1,336.55 and loses $1,013 a paycheck, about $26,350 a year, until the levy is released.
The exempt amount, by status and dependents
The figures below come from Publication 1494 (Rev. 12-2025), which the IRS issues for levies served in 2026. They are amounts per two-week pay period; the calculator converts them for weekly, twice-monthly, monthly and daily pay. The levy statement your employer hands you, Parts 3, 4 and 5 of the levy form, is where the filing status, dependents and any additional standard deduction are declared.
| Filing status | 0 dependents | 1 dependent | 2 dependents | 3 dependents | 4 dependents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $619.23 | $823.08 | $1,026.93 | $1,230.78 | $1,434.63 |
| Married filing jointly | $1,238.46 | $1,442.31 | $1,646.16 | $1,850.01 | $2,053.86 |
| Head of household | $928.85 | $1,132.70 | $1,336.55 | $1,540.40 | $1,744.25 |
| Married filing separately | $619.23 | $823.08 | $1,026.93 | $1,230.78 | $1,434.63 |
Publication 1494 gives its own worked examples, which the calculator reproduces to the cent: a single taxpayer paid weekly who claims three dependents has $615.38 exempt; a married couple filing jointly, paid every two weeks with two dependents, has $1,646.16. If the single taxpayer in the first example is over 65 and claims one additional standard deduction, the exempt amount rises to $654.80.
A head of household paid every two weeks
Take a parent filing as head of household with two children, taking home $2,350 every two weeks after the deductions that were already in place before the levy. The exempt amount is the yearly base of $24,150 plus two dependents at $5,300, divided by 26 pay periods.
| Each paycheck | |
|---|---|
| Take-home pay | $2,350 |
| Exempt under Publication 1494 | $1,336.55 |
| Sent to the IRS | $1,013 |
| Share of take-home pay levied | 43.1 % |
Your paycheck under a levy
Sent to the IRS each pay period
$1,013
| Exempt amount | $1,336.55 |
| Levied | $1,013 |
| Share of the paycheck levied | 43.1 % |
The share levied rises steeply with pay: since the exempt amount is fixed, every extra dollar earned above it goes to the IRS. A raise or overtime during a levy ends up almost entirely with the IRS, which is one reason the levy tends to push people toward an arrangement quickly. The reverse also holds: a parent whose take-home pay is at or below the exempt amount loses nothing to the levy, though the debt, the interest and the levy itself all remain on file.
What the employer receives
The levy reaches the employer on Form 668-W, in the version used by the IRS's automated collection unit or by a revenue officer, and Publication 1494 is printed for both. Its tables are titled for wages, salary and other income. The table works on take-home pay: what the paycheck would have been after the taxes and deductions in place before the levy arrived. Two employees with the same salary can therefore keep the same exempt amount but lose different sums, because their withholding and benefit deductions differ. The weekly column, divided by five, gives the daily figure for people paid by the day.
Before the levy: the notices that come first
The IRS levy page lists what normally precedes a levy: the tax assessed and a bill sent, a refusal or neglect to pay, a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing sent at least 30 days before the levy, and an advance notice that the IRS may contact third parties. Wages appear first in the IRS's list of property held by others that it can levy, ahead of retirement accounts, bank accounts and commissions. The authority is section 6331 of the tax code; section 6334 sets the exemption that Publication 1494 turns into tables.
Filling in the levy statement
The employer gives the employee the statement of exemptions. On it you write your filing status, the number of dependents you can claim, and a number in the "additional standard deduction" space if you or your spouse are 65 or older or blind. Dependents claimed must be people you could claim on your tax return. Child support ordered by a court before the levy is also left to you, on top of the exempt amount.
How the levy ends
A wage levy stops when the balance is paid, when the IRS releases it, or when the collection period expires. Release usually follows a payment plan, an accepted offer or a finding of hardship, the status the IRS uses when collecting would leave a household without its basic living expenses. The collection period page adds a detail: if the IRS levies future income before the collection period expires, it can keep receiving payments from that levy. Exempt amounts here reproduce the publication; your employer applies the figure the IRS sends, and the IRS decides on any release.