Letter 668W is the IRS wage levy notice sent directly to your employer. Learn what it means, how much pay the IRS can take, and how Tax Titans stops wage levies — sometimes the same day.
When the IRS sends Letter 668W, it doesn't go to you — it goes to your employer. Your payroll department receives a legal notice requiring them to immediately begin withholding a large portion of every paycheck and sending it directly to the IRS — starting with the very next pay cycle.
You may find out when your paycheck arrives dramatically short. Or you may be notified by HR. Either way, by the time you know about it, your employer is already legally obligated to comply.
Letter 668W is the IRS's formal Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income. It is not a request. It is not a suggestion. It is a federal legal order that your employer is required to follow — and failure to comply can make your employer personally liable for the withheld funds.
Understanding what Letter 668W means, how much the IRS can take, and what you can do to stop it is essential knowledge for anyone facing IRS wage levy enforcement.
Letter 668W (formally titled "Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income") is the document the IRS uses to execute a continuous wage levy on your employment income. Unlike a bank levy (which seizes whatever is in your account at one moment), a wage levy is continuous — it applies to every paycheck until the levy is released or the debt is paid.
The letter is sent directly to your employer's payroll department (or to your company's HR office). The IRS typically sends the levy based on your employer's information from your tax records.
The letter includes:
- The amount of tax debt you owe
- Instructions for calculating the exempt amount (the portion you keep)
- Instructions for remitting the levied portion directly to the IRS
- A Statement of Exemptions and Filing Status form for you to complete
Your employer is legally required to comply within one pay period of receiving the letter. They cannot refuse, delay, or negotiate.
Unlike most creditor garnishments — which are often limited to 25% of disposable income under state law — the IRS has no such limit. The IRS uses an exempt amount formula based on your filing status and number of dependents. Anything above the exempt amount goes to the IRS.
The exempt amount is the minimum amount the IRS allows you to keep. It's calculated using IRS Publication 1494 tables, which are updated annually based on the standard deduction and personal exemption amounts.
The exempt amount is typically very low. For a single filer with no dependents, it may be less than $1,000 per biweekly pay period. The IRS doesn't care that you have rent, car payments, or groceries — the formula is mechanical, not compassionate.
For most taxpayers, a 668W levy means the IRS is taking 50% to 70% of net pay — or more. Some taxpayers report take-home pay dropping below what they need to cover basic rent and food.
When your employer receives the 668W, they'll include a form for you to complete called the Statement of Exemptions and Filing Status. You submit this to your employer (not the IRS), and it tells your employer how much to exempt from levy.
If you do not return this form to your employer within three business days, your employer must treat you as single with zero exemptions — meaning the maximum amount is levied.
Complete and return this form immediately. Even if you're working on stopping the levy entirely, completing this form protects you in the meantime.
The 668W continuous wage levy applies to:
The levy does NOT automatically extend to income from other employers or other income sources. However, the IRS can issue separate 668W letters to multiple employers simultaneously if they know about multiple income sources.
Letter 668W doesn't appear without warning. There is an extensive notification sequence before the IRS executes a wage levy:
If you received notices earlier in this sequence and didn't respond, the IRS followed through. The 668W is the result of escalation — not a surprise action from a standing start.
This is why receiving any IRS notice with the words "intent to levy" should be treated as an emergency requiring immediate professional attention.
Once Letter 668W has been sent to your employer, you have several options to stop it — but each requires action on your part.
If the full tax liability, interest, and penalties can be paid, the levy will be released. This isn't realistic for most people, but it's worth noting.
Establishing a formal installment agreement with the IRS is the most common way to get a wage levy released. Once the IRS approves your payment plan, they will typically release the levy. The key is getting the agreement in place.
If you submit an OIC and the IRS considers it valid, enforcement activity is generally suspended. However, OIC processing takes time — sometimes over a year — so this is a longer-term path.
If the levy is causing genuine financial hardship — you cannot pay for basic necessities — the IRS is required to release it under Section 6343. Tax Titans presents hardship cases with documentation of income, expenses, and inability to meet basic living costs.
If you qualify financially for CNC status, the IRS suspends all collection activity, including wage levies.
If the IRS failed to follow proper procedures — didn't send the Final Notice of Intent to Levy or failed to wait 30 days — the levy can be challenged and released.
Your employer is a third party caught in the middle — and they have no choice but to comply.
When your employer receives Letter 668W, they must:
Your employer is not allowed to ignore or delay the levy. If they do, they become personally liable to the IRS for the withheld amounts — a serious legal exposure that virtually no employer will risk.
What your employer cannot do is fire you solely because they received a 668W. Federal law (Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act) prohibits termination based on a single wage garnishment. However, multiple garnishments may not be protected — and practical employment realities still apply.
One of the most painful aspects of a 668W levy is that your employer learns about your IRS tax problem. Your payroll department, HR staff, and possibly your direct manager become aware that you have an unresolved IRS debt.
For many taxpayers — especially professionals, managers, or employees in positions of financial trust — this creates significant professional anxiety or actual career damage.
Tax Titans understands this dimension of wage levy situations. Speed matters: the faster we can get the levy released, the fewer pay cycles your employer has to process, and the less disruption to your professional situation. Using the IRS Practitioner Priority Line, our team can reach an IRS agent quickly and begin pursuing a release without the delays that individual taxpayers experience when trying to call the IRS themselves.
There is no guaranteed timeline — every case is different. But here's what Tax Titans does to move as fast as possible:
Day 1: Immediate IRS Contact
We contact the IRS using the Practitioner Priority Line, identify the case, pull transcripts, and assess the situation.
Day 1-2: Resolution Proposal
Based on your financial situation, we prepare a proposal — installment agreement terms, hardship documentation, or another resolution — and submit it.
Day 2-5: Levy Release
If we're seeking an installment agreement or hardship release, the IRS can release the levy verbally in some cases, with written confirmation following. We notify your employer as soon as we have the release.
In urgent situations — where the next pay period is imminent and a levy is about to process — our team prioritizes immediate contact and works aggressively to get a release in place before the next paycheck is processed.
A continuous wage levy is one of the most disruptive enforcement actions the IRS can take. It affects your paycheck every two weeks. It involves your employer. It can make it impossible to pay rent, service debt, or meet basic obligations.
The good news: it can be stopped. But it requires action — fast.
📞 Call Tax Titans immediately at (888) 684-4992 — Monday through Saturday. A wage levy is an emergency. Our tax attorneys and enrolled agents are ready to contact the IRS on your behalf today.
📋 Submit a contact form — we'll reach out as soon as possible. Please mark "URGENT — WAGE LEVY" so we know to prioritize your inquiry.
And if you received an LT11 or CP504 notice and haven't acted yet — call us now, before the 668W is issued. Stopping a levy before it starts is always better than chasing a release after your employer is already withholding.
What is Letter 668W?
It is the IRS Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income — the formal document sent to your employer ordering them to begin withholding a large portion of each paycheck and remitting it to the IRS.
How much of my paycheck can the IRS take?
The IRS withholds everything above your "exempt amount" — a small threshold based on your filing status and dependents. For many taxpayers, this means the IRS takes 50–70% or more of net pay. Complete the Statement of Exemptions form your employer provides immediately to maximize the amount you keep.
Can my employer refuse to comply with Letter 668W?
No. Your employer is legally required to comply. Failure to comply makes them personally liable to the IRS for the withheld amounts.
Can I be fired because my employer received a 668W?
Federal law prohibits termination for a single wage garnishment. Multiple garnishments may not be protected. As a practical matter, resolving the levy quickly minimizes professional exposure.
How do I stop a wage levy?
The most common path is entering an installment agreement, which prompts an IRS levy release. Economic hardship, CNC status, and OIC submissions are other options. Tax Titans handles this process from start to finish.
How long does a wage levy last?
A 668W is a continuous levy — it applies to every paycheck indefinitely until the levy is released or the debt is paid. There is no automatic expiration date.
Don’t wait—every day you delay, penalties and interest grow. Let a Tax Titan fight for you.