IRS Wage Garnishment Calculator: how much of each paycheck can the IRS take?
Use this IRS levy and garnishment calculator to see the part of your pay the IRS has to leave you, what it can take each payday, and roughly how long the levy could run. Then pick your notice to see what to do next.
Only know your gross pay? Work it out
Estimates a federal IRS levy on wages for individuals. State tax agencies and private creditors use different rules.
Enter your take-home pay per paycheck to see your result.
The IRS can take each paycheck $0You keep $0 of $0 take-home pay
General information only, not legal or tax advice. This estimate uses the IRS exempt amounts for levies served in 2026 and may not match what your employer withholds. Other income, court-ordered child support, bonuses and payroll changes can all change the figure. If you’re facing a deadline or a levy has started, talk to a tax professional right away. Talk to The W Tax Group for free.
LT11 or Letter 1058
May need prompt attentionThree things set what the IRS leaves you
The exempt amount is your standard deduction plus a set amount for each dependent, divided by the number of paydays in a year. Your employer applies it to every paycheck while the levy is in place.
Filing status
The 2026 standard deduction for single and married-filing-separately filers. Heads of household start at $24,150 and joint filers at $32,200. Paid weekly, a single filer keeps $309.62.
Each dependent
What each dependent on your statement adds per year, or $101.92 a week. A child you already pay court-ordered support for can’t be counted twice.
Age 65+ or blind
Each box adds $2,050 a year for single filers and heads of household, and $1,650 for joint or separate filers. Joint filers can claim up to four boxes.
What the IRS leaves you each payday in 2026
Amounts with no dependents, before any age or blindness boxes. Add the last column once for each dependent you list.
| Pay frequency | Single or married filing separately | Head of household | Married filing jointly | Each dependent adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $309.62 | $464.42 | $619.23 | $101.92 |
| Every two weeks | $619.23 | $928.85 | $1,238.46 | $203.85 |
| Twice a month | $670.83 | $1,006.25 | $1,341.67 | $220.83 |
| Monthly | $1,341.67 | $2,012.50 | $2,683.33 | $441.67 |
| Daily | $61.92 | $92.88 | $123.85 | $20.38 |
Source: IRS exempt-amount tables for levies served in 2026 (revised December 2025). Your employer uses the table for the year the levy was served unless you give it a new statement. Example from the IRS: a single filer paid weekly with three dependents keeps $615.38.
How the IRS calculates a garnishment on your pay
To calculate the wage levy, your employer starts from your take-home pay, subtracts your exempt amount and sends the rest to the IRS. It keeps doing that every payday until the IRS says to stop.
Final notice first
Before taking wages, the IRS generally has to send a final notice of intent to levy, an LT11 or Letter 1058, and wait 30 days.
Your employer gets the levy
Form 668-W goes to your employer with a statement of filing status and dependents for you to fill in and return within three days.
Miss the 3 days
If the statement isn’t returned, your exempt amount is figured as married filing separately with no dependents, the lowest amount on the table. You can still give it to your employer later to raise it.
Every payday
The levy is continuous. It covers bonuses and commissions too, and a bonus paid on its own can go to the IRS in full.
Six things that change what the IRS takes
The calculator assumes one regular paycheck from one employer. These situations can push the real figure up or down.
Two jobs or more income
The IRS looks at all your income. If one job already pays you the exempt amount, it can tell your second employer to allow nothing and take that whole check. If both spouses’ wages are levied and you file jointly, only one of you gets the standard deduction.
Bonuses and commissions
They count as wages. A bonus paid on top of your regular check, after the exempt amount for that period was already paid, can go to the IRS in full.
Contractor and 1099 pay
Recurring payments for your services, such as fees or commissions, can sometimes be levied the same way as wages. Other payments to you can be levied differently, so check which IRS form your payer received.
Income the IRS can’t take
Unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation and certain service-connected disability pay are generally protected, though the IRS’s automated program can take up to 15% of some of these. Court-ordered child support is protected when the order came before the levy and you’re paying it. Voluntary payroll deductions you start after the levy are not.
Social Security
Benefits aren’t garnished through your employer. The IRS’s automated levy program takes up to 15% of each payment, and a direct levy can take more. Supplemental Security Income can’t be levied. See whether the IRS can take your Social Security.
Your spouse and your bank
On a joint tax debt, your spouse’s pay can be levied too. Read can the IRS garnish your spouse’s wages. Money already in your account can be taken with a separate bank levy, which freezes what’s in the account and gives you 21 days to contact the IRS before the bank pays it over.
Why the 25% rule doesn’t protect you here
Many general garnishment calculators apply the federal 25% limit for creditor garnishments. A federal tax levy follows a different law, so those numbers can badly understate what the IRS takes.
| IRS levy on your pay | Most creditor garnishments | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing law | Internal Revenue Code sections 6331 and 6334 | Consumer Credit Protection Act, Title III, plus state law |
| What you keep | A fixed exempt amount based on filing status and dependents | At least 75% of pay after required deductions, and never less than $217.50 a week |
| What can be taken | Everything above the exempt amount, with no percentage cap | Up to 25% of pay after required deductions |
| Court order needed | No. A final notice and 30 days are enough | Usually yes, after a lawsuit and judgment |
| How long it lasts | Every payday until paid, released or the 10-year collection period ends | Set by the court order and state law |
Four ways to get your pay back
The IRS must release a levy when the balance is paid, the collection period has run out, you enter an installment agreement (unless the agreement says otherwise) or the levy causes economic hardship. Your employer stops withholding when it gets a release of levy, Form 668-D, from the IRS. Read more about IRS wage levies and how to release a levy.
Collection Due Process hearing
File Form 12153 within 30 days of your LT11 or Letter 1058 and, in most cases, the levy is held while Appeals reviews your case.
How hearings work →Payment plan
An installment agreement can cost less each month than a levy. The IRS generally can’t start a new levy while your request is pending and releases the levy once the plan is in place. A levy already running may continue until then.
Payment plan help →Currently Not Collectible
If the levy leaves you unable to cover basic living costs, the IRS can release it and pause collection.
Check if you qualify →Offer in Compromise
Settle for less than the full balance when paying it all isn’t realistic. The IRS generally can’t start a new levy while your offer is being reviewed, though one already in place may not be released.
Settlement options →IRS wage levies, answered
How is an IRS wage levy calculated?
Your employer starts with your take-home pay for the pay period: usually gross pay minus taxes withheld and the payroll deductions in place before the levy arrived. The IRS can have voluntary deductions, such as savings or investment contributions, stopped. It subtracts your exempt amount, which depends on your filing status, the dependents you list and any age 65 or blindness boxes, and sends everything above that to the IRS. A single filer paid weekly with three dependents keeps $615.38 in 2026, so on $1,000 of take-home pay the IRS gets $384.62. It repeats every payday until the levy is released.
What exempt amount does the IRS leave?
For levies served in 2026, a single filer paid weekly with no dependents keeps $309.62 a week. Heads of household keep $464.42 and joint filers $619.23, and each dependent adds $101.92 a week. That’s the standard deduction plus $5,300 per dependent, spread over the year. If you don’t return your statement to your employer within three days, you get the married-filing-separately amount with no dependents. Court-ordered child support set before the levy can also be released from it.
Why is an IRS levy bigger than a creditor’s?
Most creditor garnishments are capped by federal law at 25% of your pay after legally required deductions, or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 a week), whichever leaves you more. Federal tax levies aren’t subject to those caps, and the IRS doesn’t need a court order. It leaves you only the exempt amount and takes the rest, so on a larger paycheck it can take well over half.
How do I get a wage levy released?
The IRS must release it when you pay in full, when the 10-year collection period has expired, when you enter an installment agreement (unless the agreement says otherwise) or when the levy causes economic hardship, such as not being able to pay basic living expenses. If your LT11 or Letter 1058 is less than 30 days old, request a Collection Due Process hearing with Form 12153. After that you have up to a year to ask for an equivalent hearing, but it doesn’t hold the levy the same way. See how to release a levy.
This IRS wage garnishment calculator uses the IRS exempt amounts for levies served in 2026 (IRC 6334). The levy per paycheck is your take-home pay minus that amount and any court-ordered child support. Levy length leaves out interest and penalties, so the real time is usually longer. The hearing date is 30 days after your letter date, moved to Monday if it lands on a weekend. Updated October 2026. General information, not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship is created.
Plan your way out
Is the IRS taking your paycheck?
Talk to The W Tax Group for free. Tell us what you owe and which notice you have, and we’ll go over how to stop the levy before it starts or get it released.
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