IRS wage garnishment happens to regular, hard-working people every day. It only takes one unexpected financial event to trigger a situation that requires the payment of more taxes than expected. If you don’t have the money sitting there, in your bank account ready to go to the government, you are a possible target for the garnishment of wages.

It Could Happen to Anyone

Jon had worked a regular job for regular wages and had the regular amount taken out of his paycheck for taxes, just like everyone else. He thought that people who had tax problems and faced IRS wage garnishment must be doing something sneaky or tricky that got them into trouble. Jon couldn’t have been more wrong, as he was about to find out.

Jon had been working for the same company for five years, since he had graduated from high school. It was a tough job — construction — but his boss liked him and made sure to find work for Jon even when others were being laid off. He took a part-time second job to make some extra money to pay off his three-year-old pickup truck and to pay down his credit card debt. His buddy, Paul, had a business that put up drywall and they had more work than they could handle. He hired Jon to come in a few evenings a week and on Saturdays to help out his regular crew.

It was a perfect win-win situation: Jon got some extra cash and Paul could have an extra pair of hands without the expense of hiring another employee.

Around the end of January, amongst the bank statements and credit cards bills, Jon noticed something odd.

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Tags: Garnishment of Wages, IRS Wage Garnishment, Wage Garnishment Laws