Tax · United States
IRS Form 668-W — a levy on wages, served on your employer
Form 668-W is the document the IRS serves on an employer to take part of an employee's wages for unpaid taxes — a continuous levy that touches every paycheck until the debt is paid, other arrangements are made, or the levy is released. A protected, exempt amount exists, and there are three days to claim it.
How serious: enforcement closeAlso called: 668-W, 668-W(ICS), 668-W(ACS), 668-W(c)(DO), wage levy, wage garnishment by the IRS
Form 668-W is served on your employer (or another payer), not on you. It orders the employer to send part of your wages to the IRS for unpaid taxes. This is the end of the collection ladder — it comes after a final notice of intent to levy went unanswered.
The levy is continuous: part of every paycheck goes to the IRS until the debt is paid, other payment arrangements are made, or the levy is released.
Not everything can be taken. An exempt amount — based on the standard deduction and your dependents — is protected from the levy. But it must be claimed: the employer hands over a 'Statement of Dependents and Filing Status', and it must be returned within three days.
Who sends it
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — the United States federal tax authority. The form is served on your employer (or other payer), who must comply with it.
Most people learn of it from their employer or HR, who hands over the employee copies of 'Form 668-W, Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary and Other Income' with a 'Statement of Dependents and Filing Status' to fill in. The paycheck shrinks starting a following pay cycle, and Publication 1494 tables for the exempt amount are attached.
The deadline
3 days to complete and return the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status that your employer gives you ('Your employer will provide you with a Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to complete and return within three days' — IRS wage levy page)
Three days. The employer provides a Statement of Dependents and Filing Status, and it is to be completed and returned within three days of the day the employer hands it over. That statement sets the protected, exempt portion of each paycheck.
If you do nothing
If the statement is not returned within three days, the exempt amount is figured as if you were married filing separately with no dependents — zero — the minimum possible protection, maximizing what is taken from each paycheck. The levy itself continues each pay period regardless, until other arrangements are made, the overdue amount is paid, or the levy is released.
How it escalates
- 01The exempt amount is computed at the minimum (married filing separately, zero dependents), so the maximum share of wages is seized.
- 02The employer must comply: employers generally have at least one full pay period after receiving the form before they are required to send funds from wages to the IRS; after that, part of the wages goes to the IRS each pay period.
- 03The levy continues until the debt is fully paid, other payment arrangements are made, or the IRS releases the levy.
Common questions
Why did my employer get this instead of me?
The form is served on the employer (or other payer), who must comply with it. Employees usually learn of it from HR, who hands over the employee copies together with the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status.
Can the whole paycheck be taken?
An exempt amount, based on the standard deduction and your dependents, is protected from the levy. But it must be claimed by returning the Statement within three days — otherwise the exempt amount is figured at the minimum: married filing separately, zero dependents.
How does the levy end?
When the debt is fully paid (the IRS then issues Form 668-D, Release of Levy), when other payment arrangements are made, or when the IRS releases the levy.
Is this a one-time deduction?
No. The levy is continuous: part of every paycheck goes to the IRS each pay period until the debt is paid, other arrangements are made, or the levy is released.
Sources
Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.