It’s the end of the week. You’ve worked hard and are ready to receive your paycheck but, when the check comes your employer hands you something else. That’s when you find out your next paycheck is going to be garnished. Perhaps you’re aware you owe back taxes to the IRS but haven’t figure out a solution. You look at the notice your employer handed you and it’s not the IRS come to collect. Instead, it’s the Franchise Tax Board (FTB). Much like the IRS, FTB is able to take different types of collection action against taxpayers for unpaid taxes; one of the most common being a wage garnishment. In fact, the FTB may actually be more difficult to deal with than the IRS for a number of reasons.

Many taxpayers facing a levy from the IRS, after receiving a Final Notice Of Intent To Levy, need to be aware that a levy can reach beyond their bank accounts or wages. In this blog we will be discussing the different types of collection action that falls under the term levy and what can be done to avoid them.

In a typical collection case, under IRC § 6330(a) the IRS is legally required to provide due process before proceeding with seizures, levies, garnishments, etc. However, if you are a federal contractor, the due process rules are far less protective of your rights. Therefore, it is important to address any collection issues as soon as they arise.

Many people rely on their social security benefits as a way to bridge the gap between their retirement income and their monthly expenses. For others their social security may be their only source of income in retirement. Which ever may be the case, if you owe back taxes to the IRS you may be asking yourself the question, can the IRS garnish my social security? In short: Yes.

The last thing you want to hear from your employer is that they have been ordered by the IRS to withhold money from your paycheck. But, what if you’re self-employed? Can the IRS still collect from you? The answer is: ABSOLUTELY. Just because you don’t have someone regularly paying you a paycheck doesn’t mean the IRS won’t find other ways to collect. They can still file a lien against you and your property (making it difficult to sell or almost impossible to refinance) and they can issue a bank levy (draining your account of however much money is in there at the time).