Tampa Wage Garnishment Attorney
If you earn enough income that you are required to file taxes as an individual or a business, it is critical to make sure that you file your taxes properly and pay any taxes you owe. Even if you are anticipating that you will owe taxes you cannot pay all at once, you can work with the IRS on an installment agreement or another payment plan that can allow you to pay your taxes over time. When you do not pay your taxes and do not make any arrangement with the IRS, you can be at risk of having your wages garnished. In other words, the federal government may be able to seize a portion of your wages in order to force you to repay the federal taxes you owe.
If you have received a Notice of Intent to Levy from the IRS, you need to seek advice from a Tampa wage garnishment attorney as soon as possible to avoid having your wages seized.
Wage Garnishment and Levies in the Tampa Bay Area
The IRS can seize your wages if you do not pay your taxes. Yet there can be some confusion about whether you are facing a wage levy or garnishment, and whether there is a difference between the two. The IRS can initiate a tax levy to obtain the taxes you owe. An IRS tax levy is defined by the IRS as “legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt,” and it is one of two general types of actions the IRS will take in order to collect a tax debt. The other type of major action is a lien, which is “a legal claim against property to secure payment of the tax debt.” A lien does not result in any property being taken immediately (it merely indicates that the government has a claim against property). Differently, a levy allows the IRS to actually seize property.
A wage garnishment is one type of IRS tax levy. As the IRS clarifies, a tax levy can “garnish wages, take money in your bank or other financial account, seize and sell your vehicle(s), real estate, and other personal property.” Depending on your overall wages and tax debt, some of your wages may be exempt from the garnishment.
Steps Before a Tampa Wage Garnishment
Just because you owe taxes does not mean that the IRS can automatically start to garnish your wages. Instead, the IRS usually must take a number of steps prior to garnishing your wages. Most importantly, the IRS has to give you notice. You will typically receive a tax bill from the IRS, followed by a Notice of Intent to Levy. If you do not reply or make arrangements, you could face a wage garnishment.
Contact a Tampa Wage Garnishment Attorney for Help
If you have received a Notice of Intent to Levy, or if you need assistance having a wage garnishment removed or lifted, you need to seek advice from an experienced wage garnishment lawyer in Tampa. The dedicated tax attorneys at our firm are here to help. Contact Ronald Cutler, P.A. to learn more about the services we provide to clients who are facing IRS tax levies and liens in Florida.
