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how much do you have to owe the IRS before your wages are garnished?

Question:
how much do you have to owe the IRS before your wages are garnished?

Answer:
It's not a set amount.

If you owe them any money, set up a payment plan. Don't be scared. They will work with you, and as long as you make your payments you will be fine.

Don't go into a panic and agree to pay more than you can reasonably afford. If all you can afford is $25 a month, say so.

They have formulas for what they think you can afford for each area of the country based upon your income, and you will have to justify any discrepancies which is fairly easy to do. Let's say their formula allows $500 for rent but your rent is $600. It's real easy to prove your rent is $600 if they won't take your word for it (copy of your lease along with some cancelled rent checks). Same with transportation costs (photocopy of your car payment coupon or monthly rail pass receipt). They only make you prove you can't afford more if your proposed monthly payment amount is what they consider to be unreasonably low. Most people don't have to go through all that.

Just call them up and make arrangements. They WILL work with you. Don't let the situation get worse and worse because you are afraid. Once you get on the phone with someone, you will see that it isn't so bad after all. The hardest part is picking up the phone and dialing the number, but after you get a nice representative on the line you will see that everything can and will be worked out.