When a person owes back taxes -- tax payments from a previous year that he should have paid but did not -- the government can take a number of steps to collect payment of this money. Among them is the garnishment of the person's wages. While federal benefits are usually protected from seizure by garnishment, they are not when the federal government is the one doing the garnishing.
Wage Garnishment
When wages or other sources of income are garnished, it means that a chunk of this money is being carved out every pay period and given over to a creditor whom the recipient of the income owes money to. Wage garnishment can only occur after a creditor has been awarded damages in a civil court by a judge. This civil judgment can be used to gain a motion for garnishment.
Social Security
When someone is disabled or has reached retirement age, he is often eligible to receive a check from the Social Security Administration. This check is part of a federal entitlement program -- a benefits program that is open to everyone who qualifies. Usually, federal benefits are not eligible for seizure by debt collectors or through garnishment. But this rule does not apply when the person owes money to the federal government.
Back Taxes
When someone owes back taxes, she will either owe the money to the federal government, a state government, a city government or a county government. If she owes money to the federal government, there is no question that the Internal Revenue Service can step in and garnish her wages. However, whether a state or local government will be allowed to seize Social Security benefits depends on state law: in most cases, it will not.
Exemptions
There are several exemptions that someone can claim if he's facing the prospect of wage garnishment for taxes due. If he has too little income, the judge might refuse to grant a wage garnishment if the debtor will not make enough money to support himself or others if the garnishment is imposed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment