Here's the Rub: Payday is the day of the week that everyone looks forward to. When someone owes the IRS money that day becomes a day of dread. A wage garnishment is one of the dirtiest tricks in an IRS-Hitman's arsenal and I used it more times than I can count to enforce a collection "action."
It's My Money! I'm sure when you see most of your paycheck disappear, you're angry that the IRS thinks they can take your money. When you owe back taxes, your money becomes Uncle Sam's money, and it was my job to make sure my Uncle's pockets were full.
How could I do that to someone? Especially when I knew that the target couldn't buy their kids new clothes for school, heck the target couldn't even buy their kids school supplies. The IRS only sees a debtor as a target and if I didn't take the "hit" someone else would.
Even if you don't get a paycheck, if you get social security or disability the IRS can garnish that too. In fact the IRS can garnish up to 15% of social security. I would always feel a twinge of guilt taking money from someone on a fixed income.
Save Your Bacon. First of all you, can prevent the wage garnishment from happening. The IRS gives any target ample warning before lining you up in their sights. If it's already too late, look into these options.
- Enter into a payment plan with the IRS. With an IRS payment plan you pay a monthly amount to the IRS. As long as you pay this amount each month on time your wage garnishment will be lifted. However, if you owe more than $10,000, you need to talk to a tax debt professional. The IRS will try to push anyone with high debts like that into unaffordable payments. You really don't want to trade one bad situation for another.
- Negotiate for a settlement with the IRS with the help of a tax professional. While negotiating with the IRS, collection activities are put on hold until a resolution can be reached. However, once your settlement has been accepted or denied you're back in the danger zone. Most settlements are rejected because it is nearly impossible to prove that you will have no way of paying off your debt in the next ten years. If your request is declined, you could be facing attacks all over again. Talk with a tax debt professional to make sure you don't put yourself in harm's way.
Take Action! I can't stress enough how important it is to take action as soon as you know there is money owed to the IRS. The number one reason I had to target someone for a wage garnishment was because they put off doing anything about their debt.
Now you have the smoking gun... Use it!
I'm Richard Close and I was a "Hitman" for the IRS. I was a second generation revenue officer. I took out anyone who owed the IRS money as my father had before me. Now I help thousands of Americans beat Uncle Sam and save thousands of dollars. Tax problems? Contact me and get free tips and techniques to deal with wage and bank seizures and slash tax debt: email me at IRS-Hitman@taxdefensenetwork.com or call 888-415-1337. Follow me on Twitter @irs_hitman.Labels: IRS Wage Garnishment