Can the IRS garnish my wages without giving me prior notice?
Yes. The IRS has the ability to take extreme actions to collect past due back taxes. This authority includes the ability to garnish the wages of taxpayers with past due liabilities. Before the IRS can garnish your wages, the law requires them to send you a letter called a Final Notice. After this letter is sent, the IRS needs to wait approximately 45 days before taking any further action. After that time period, the IRS can move forward with enforced collection action, including a wage garnishment. The IRS only needs to send the final notice once. They do not need to send the notice every time they want to garnish your wages or take other collection action. Because of this rule, years can go by after the Final Notice is sent. Many taxpayers are taken by surprise when they are suddenly garnished after months or years of hearing nothing from the IRS. Also, some taxpayers never receive the Final Notice because the IRS sent it to an old address. Unfortunately, this is completely legal.
