IRS Form 668-W Notice: Wage Levy (Garnishment) Served
A Form 668-W is an active IRS wage levy: your employer has been ordered to withhold a large portion of every paycheck and send it to the IRS — only a small exempt amount reaches you until the levy is released.
What a Form 668-W actually means
This isn't a warning — it's the garnishment itself. Unlike private creditors (capped around 25%), the IRS levy leaves you only an exempt amount based on filing status and dependents; everything above it goes to the IRS each payday. It's continuous until released.
Levies get released fast when you engage: proving hardship, entering an installment agreement, or showing procedural defects (like a missing final notice) are the standard release paths. Employers must comply, so the fix runs through the IRS, not payroll.
What to do, step by step
- 1Fill out the exemption claim (Statement of Dependents and Filing Status) your employer gives you and return it immediately — it raises the amount you keep.
- 2Call the IRS (or get representation) the same week: propose an installment agreement or document hardship for a release.
- 3Check the procedural history — if you never received the final notice (LT11/1058), the levy may be releasable on due-process grounds.
- 4Once a resolution is accepted, the IRS faxes a levy release (Form 668-D) to your employer — usually effective the next payroll.
- 5Address the underlying balance so it doesn't come back.
Common questions
How much of my paycheck can the IRS take with a 668-W?+
Everything above an exempt amount set by filing status and dependents — often the majority of the check. It applies every payday until released, which is why immediate engagement beats waiting.
How fast can a wage levy be released?+
Same-week releases happen when hardship is documented or an installment agreement is accepted — the IRS faxes Form 668-D directly to your employer's payroll.
Received a Form 668-W? Get it handled.
Talk to a tax specialist about your notice — free, no pressure, no judgment.