Wage Garnishment Laws: Federal Caps, Exemptions, and Priority

Federal wage garnishment laws cap what an ordinary creditor can take from your paycheck at 25 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, and they shield the first $217.50 of that pay entirely. Child support, unpaid taxes, and defaulted student loans follow separate rules and allow larger withholdings. Several categories of income, including Social Security and VA disability, are protected from most creditors altogether.

What “Disposable Earnings” Actually Means

Every garnishment percentage runs against your disposable earnings, not your take-home pay. Disposable earnings are what’s left after your employer subtracts the deductions the law requires: federal, state, and local income taxes, your share of Social Security and Medicare, and any state unemployment insurance contributions.¹ Voluntary deductions do not come out first. Health insurance premiums, union dues, and 401(k) contributions stay in the base the percentages apply to, which means the garnishable figure is usually higher than what actually lands in your bank account.

“Earnings” under the federal statute covers compensation for personal services, whether it shows up as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or periodic pension or retirement payments.¹ The Department of Labor reads that definition to include lump-sum payments such as severance, sign-on bonuses, back pay from insurance settlements, and workers’ compensation wage-replacement checks.²

The 25 Percent Cap on Ordinary Debts

Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act sets the nationwide ceiling for consumer debts such as credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans. A garnishment for one of these debts cannot exceed the lesser of two figures:³

25 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, or
the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed $217.50 (30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour).

That formula creates three practical zones. If your weekly disposable earnings are $217.50 or less, nothing can be garnished. Between $217.51 and $290.00, only the amount above $217.50 is exposed, so someone with $250 in disposable pay would lose at most $32.50. Above $290.00, the 25 percent cap produces the smaller number and becomes the operative limit.³

The thresholds scale with your pay period. On a biweekly schedule the protected floor is $435.00 (60 times $7.25). For monthly pay it works out to roughly $942.50. The 25 percent cap applies the same way no matter how often you’re paid.⁴

The 25 percent is a shared ceiling. If three judgment creditors are chasing your wages, they divide that quarter among themselves. They do not each get a fresh 25 percent slice.⁴

Child Support and Alimony Have Their Own Ceilings

Domestic support obligations sit outside the 25 percent rule. How much can be withheld depends on your current family situation:³

50 percent of disposable earnings if you’re supporting another spouse or dependent child.
60 percent if you are not.
An additional 5 percent on top of either figure once you’re more than 12 weeks behind, raising the ceiling to 55 or 65 percent.

Sixty-five percent is the harshest garnishment rate federal law permits, and unlike ordinary-debt garnishment there is no minimum-wage floor built in. Courts and state child-support agencies can send withholding orders directly to your employer, and most new child support orders build in automatic income withholding from the start.

Defaulted Federal Student Loans

If a federal student loan goes into default (at least 270 days past due), the Department of Education or its servicer can garnish up to 15 percent of your disposable pay without going to court.⁵ The same $217.50 weekly floor that protects ordinary-debt garnishment applies here. Before withholding begins, the agency must send written notice at least 30 days in advance, and you can request a hearing to dispute the debt or the repayment terms.⁶

If another garnishment is already running, the student-loan withholding must be reduced so the combined total stays within 25 percent of disposable earnings, unless the other order is for child support or taxes.⁷

IRS Wage Levies

The IRS does not follow the Consumer Credit Protection Act. When it levies wages for unpaid taxes, it uses Publication 1494 to calculate an exempt amount based on your filing status and dependents, and everything above that goes to the government.⁸ For 2026, a single filer with no dependents keeps $309.62 per week. A married couple filing jointly with no dependents keeps $619.23. Each dependent raises the exempt amount, and filers who are 65 or older or blind get an extra $31.73 per week.⁹

The result is much more aggressive than a standard garnishment. A single person with $1,000 in weekly disposable pay would keep $309.62 and send the IRS $690.38, close to 70 percent. Of all wage-collection actions, an IRS levy is the one most likely to threaten your ability to cover basic living expenses.

Income That Cannot Be Garnished by Most Creditors

Some income has statutory protection that sits above the general garnishment framework:

Social Security benefits are shielded from “execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process” for private consumer debts. The IRS can still levy for unpaid taxes, and courts can garnish for child support or alimony.¹⁰
Supplemental Security Income is protected even more broadly and cannot be garnished for unpaid taxes or defaulted student loans.
VA disability benefits are exempt from creditor claims and not subject to attachment, levy, or seizure by private parties, though the IRS can still levy them for delinquent taxes.¹¹

These protections attach to the benefits themselves. Once the funds mix with other deposits in a bank account, proving which dollars are exempt gets harder. Keeping protected benefits in a separate account from wages preserves the exemption cleanly.

A Note on Independent Contractors

The Consumer Credit Protection Act’s percentage caps work through the employer. An employer receives the garnishment order, does the math, and forwards the withholding. Independent contractors and freelancers do not have that relationship. Creditors typically pursue self-employed income through other means, such as a bank levy or a lien on incoming payments, and those methods are not subject to the automatic 25 percent ceiling.¹ State law fills some of that gap unevenly, but the federal safety net does not extend to 1099 income in most situations.

State Law Can Be Better, Never Worse

Federal garnishment limits set a floor. When state law would produce a smaller garnishment, the employer must follow the state rule.⁴ Four states effectively bar private creditors from garnishing wages for ordinary consumer debts, though even in those states garnishment remains available for child support, alimony, taxes, and defaulted student loans. Other states drop the 25 percent cap to 10 or 15 percent or tie the protected amount to a higher state minimum wage. The difference between keeping 75 percent and keeping 100 percent of your disposable pay is significant, so checking your state’s specific rule is worth the time when a garnishment notice arrives.

When More Than One Order Hits at Once

For consumer debts, additional judgment creditors get in line rather than getting their own slice. The combined total stays within the 25 percent cap, and a second creditor waits until the first is satisfied or the combined amount falls below the limit.⁴

Priority matters when different types of debt collide. A child-support withholding order served before an IRS levy takes priority; an IRS levy served first takes priority over child support. Consumer-debt garnishments get whatever remains once higher-priority claims are covered, and if nothing is left below the federal cap, the consumer creditor waits. A student-loan garnishment added to an existing consumer-debt garnishment has to be reduced so the total stays within 25 percent.⁷

Challenging a Garnishment

Getting a garnishment notice does not close off your options, but the window to act is short. For a court-ordered garnishment, the main tool is a claim of exemption filed with the court. You can argue that your income falls below the minimum-wage threshold, that it comes from an exempt source, or that the withholding creates extreme hardship. Bring documentation: pay stubs, bank statements, a breakdown of monthly expenses. Filing deadlines vary by jurisdiction and can be as short as 10 to 20 days from the date you receive notice.

For administrative garnishments on federal non-tax debts, the agency’s 30-day pre-garnishment notice carries the right to request a hearing on the debt, the amount, or hardship. If you request that hearing within 15 business days of receiving the notice, withholding typically does not start until after the hearing is resolved.⁶ The IRS follows its own procedures for tax levies and is not bound by that 30-day rule.

Filing for bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that halts most collection activity, including wage garnishment, though child support and alimony withholding orders are excepted.¹²

Your Job During a Garnishment

Federal law bars an employer from firing you because your wages are garnished for a single debt. Employers who violate the rule face fines up to $1,000, up to a year in jail, or both.¹³ The protection covers one debt only. Once a second creditor’s order reaches payroll, federal law no longer prohibits termination, though some states extend broader protection.⁴ If a second order is on the way, resolving the first one quickly through payment, negotiation, or a claim of exemption is the most practical way to keep your job safe.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1672 – Definitions
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment Law Guide – Wage Garnishment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S.C. 3720D – Garnishment
6
eCFR. 31 CFR 285.11 – Administrative Wage Garnishment
7
eCFR. 34 CFR 34.20 – Amount To Be Withheld Under Multiple Garnishment Orders
8
Internal Revenue Service. Information About Wage Levies
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1494 – Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt from Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S.C. 407 – Assignment of Benefits
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 U.S.C. 5301 – Nonassignability and Exempt Status of Benefits
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 362 – Automatic Stay
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1674 – Restriction on Discharge from Employment by Reason of Garnishment