IRS Form 668-D Notice: Release of Levy
A Form 668-D is good news: it's the IRS's official release of a levy, faxed or mailed to your employer or bank to stop a wage garnishment or unfreeze levied funds — either fully, or partially with a payment amount that continues.
What a Form 668-D actually means
The IRS issues a 668-D when a levy is being lifted: you entered an installment agreement, proved hardship, paid the balance, the collection statute expired, or the levy was procedurally defective. Employers and banks act on it as soon as they receive it — usually the next payroll cycle for wages.
Read it carefully: a 668-D can be a full release or a partial one that instructs your employer to keep sending a specified amount. And a release is not forgiveness — the underlying balance survives unless it was paid or expired, so without a resolution in place the IRS can levy again.
How to recognize a real Form 668-D
IRS Collection, either the automated collection unit or a revenue officer, issues Form 668-D to the employer, bank, or other third party holding a levy. The IRS must release a levy under Internal Revenue Code section 6343(a) in certain cases: the tax is paid, the collection period has expired, release will help collection, an installment agreement allows it, the levy causes economic hardship, or the property is worth more than the debt and release won't hurt collection.
- The form is titled "Release of Levy/Release of Property from Levy" and is addressed to the party that received the original levy, such as your employer on a Form 668-W or your bank on a Form 668-A.
- It can release the levy completely or only partly. A partial release can tell an employer to keep sending a fixed amount to the IRS each payday, or release only certain tax periods from a levy that covers several.
- The IRS usually mails it, but may fax it or deliver it in person when timing is urgent. For Social Security levies that need fast action, the IRS manual says the form is marked "EXPEDITE IMMEDIATELY" and faxed to the Social Security Administration.
What to do, step by step
- 1Confirm your employer or bank actually received it — releases are faxed, and payroll departments lose faxes. Get a copy yourself.
- 2Check whether it's a full or partial release (a partial release states an amount that continues to the IRS).
- 3Verify your next paycheck reflects it; if not, have payroll call the number on the form.
- 4Keep the resolution that earned the release alive — a missed installment payment can revive levy action quickly.
- 5If the balance remains, keep working it: payment plan, Offer in Compromise, or hardship status.
Illustrative example
Example: A partial release on a wage levy
Illustrative scenario: Andre's employer has been sending most of each paycheck to the IRS under a Form 668-W levy on a $14,000 balance. He calls the IRS, shows his monthly rent, childcare, and car payment, and agrees to pay $400 a month.
Instead of a full release, the IRS faxes a Form 668-D partial release to his payroll department. It tells the employer to send a fixed $200 per biweekly paycheck to the IRS and pay Andre the rest. Andre asks HR for a copy and checks his next pay stub to make sure the new amount was applied.
Eight months later he gets a better-paying job. Because the release came from an agreement, not from paying the debt off, he sets up a direct-debit installment agreement before his last paycheck from the old employer, so a gap in payments doesn't lead to a new levy.
Names and numbers are made up to show how this notice typically plays out.
Mistakes that make a Form 668-D worse
- Assuming every 668-D is a full release. A partial release can keep a set amount going to the IRS each payday. Read what it tells the employer or bank to do.
- Not checking that it was received. Releases are often mailed, so if a pay date or bank deadline is close, ask the IRS to fax it and confirm with payroll or the bank that it arrived.
- Treating the release as forgiveness of the debt. The IRS says releasing a levy doesn't end the debt, and a new levy can be issued if you don't keep arrangements in place.
- Missing the window to ask for levied money back. For wrongful or improper levies, the IRS manual sets a deadline to request the money back, generally two years from the levy date for levies on or after March 23, 2017.
What happens if you ignore a Form 668-D
Nothing goes against you because of a 668-D itself, since it's the release. The risk is what happens afterward: if the balance remains and the installment agreement or hardship status that led to the release falls apart, the IRS says a levy can be issued again.
Often comes before a Form 668-D
Common questions
How long after a Form 668-D does my paycheck go back to normal?+
Usually the next payroll run after your employer receives it. If a pay date is imminent, ask the IRS to fax the release directly to payroll and confirm receipt the same day.
Does a Form 668-D mean my tax debt is gone?+
No — it releases the levy, not the liability. Unless the balance was paid or the collection statute expired, the debt continues accruing interest, and the IRS can levy again if the resolution that earned the release falls apart.
Checked against IRS primary sources — see how we source these guides. You can verify any notice directly at IRS.gov. The dates and instructions printed on your specific notice always control.
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