What Does a Garnishment Look Like on a Pay Stub?

A garnishment shows up on your pay stub as a separate line in the deductions column, listed alongside your taxes but marked as an involuntary withholding. The label depends on your employer’s payroll software, but what a garnishment looks like on a pay stub is usually a short code such as “Garnish,” “Wage Garnishment,” “AWG,” “CS,” or “Tax Levy,” followed by a dollar amount and sometimes a case number or creditor name. If your take-home pay dropped without warning, that line is almost certainly the reason.

Where the Line Appears and What It’s Called

Look at the deductions column of your earnings statement. The garnishment entry sits with your other withholdings but is separated from voluntary deductions like health insurance, 401(k) contributions, or union dues. It usually appears near the bottom of the deduction list.

The label tells you what kind of debt is being collected:

“Garnish” or “Wage Garnishment” is the most common label, used for court-ordered consumer debts like credit card judgments or medical bills.
“AWG” stands for Administrative Wage Garnishment, used when a federal agency orders withholding for a non-tax federal debt, most often a defaulted student loan.¹
“Child Support” or “CS” indicates child support or alimony withholding.
“Tax Levy” or “IRS Levy” means the IRS or a state tax agency is collecting unpaid taxes.
“Judgment” or “Court Order” are general labels for garnishments resulting from a lawsuit.

Next to the dollar amount you may see a case number tying the deduction to a specific court filing or agency order. Some pay stubs also print the name of the creditor — a bank, collection agency, or government entity — on the same line. That information lets you confirm the money is going to the right place.

What the Dollar Amount Is Based On

The number you see is a percentage of your “disposable earnings,” not your gross pay and not your take-home pay.² To find disposable earnings, payroll starts with your gross pay and subtracts only the deductions the law requires:

Federal, state, and local income taxes
Your share of Social Security and Medicare
State unemployment insurance tax
State employee retirement contributions required by law

Deductions you chose voluntarily — health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, life insurance, union dues, charitable donations — are not subtracted before the garnishment is calculated.³ Your disposable earnings will always be higher than the net figure you actually receive.

For an ordinary consumer debt, the Consumer Credit Protection Act caps the weekly garnishment at the lesser of two figures: 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which comes to $217.50 per week.⁴ Your employer uses whichever formula produces the smaller deduction.

A quick example. If your weekly disposable earnings are $300, the 25% calculation gives $75. The amount above the $217.50 floor is $82.50. Your pay stub would show $75, because that is the lower figure.² If your weekly disposable earnings fall below $217.50, nothing can be garnished for an ordinary debt. Many states apply stricter limits, so the amount on your stub may be lower than federal law alone would allow.

Why the Label Matters: Different Debts, Different Caps

The 25% cap only applies to ordinary consumer debts. Child support, student loans, and tax levies each follow their own rules, and the label on your stub is the first clue to which set applies.

Child Support and Alimony

The federal limit is 50% of disposable earnings if you are currently supporting another spouse or child, or 60% if you are not. An additional 5% can be withheld if payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.² These orders can be issued administratively by a state agency once a support order exists, without a separate court judgment.

Federal Student Loans

If you default on a federal student loan, the U.S. Department of Education can order withholding of up to 15% of your disposable income without going to court. This is the entry that typically appears as “AWG” on your stub.¹ Even with this garnishment in place, you must be left with at least $217.50 per week.

IRS Tax Levies

A tax levy is the most aggressive collection tool. The IRS is not bound by the 25% cap and can take everything above a minimum exempt amount that depends on your filing status and number of dependents.⁵ When a levy arrives, your employer will ask you to fill out a Statement of Dependents and Filing Status within three days. If you do not return it in time, the exempt amount defaults to married filing separately with zero dependents — the smallest possible protection.⁶

The Second, Smaller Deduction You Might See

Look closely and you may notice a second, smaller line near the garnishment itself, labeled something like “Garn Fee,” “Admin Fee,” or “Processing Charge.” This is an administrative fee your employer charges for handling the order. Unlike the garnishment, this money stays with your employer and does not go to the creditor. The permitted amount varies by jurisdiction — some allow only a few dollars per pay period, while others allow a larger flat fee or a small percentage of the garnished amount. If it looks unusually high, ask payroll to explain the charge or check your state’s rules.

If Multiple Orders Are Being Withheld

If more than one garnishment is running against your paycheck, the federal 25% cap for consumer debts applies to the combined total, not to each order separately.² Child support generally takes priority. If a child support order already claims a large share of your earnings, a consumer creditor may get nothing at all, because child support can push withholding past the level the 25% cap would otherwise permit. Tax levies and bankruptcy orders follow their own priority rules outside this framework.

If the Number Looks Wrong

Check the math yourself before anything else. Confirm that only legally required withholdings — income taxes, Social Security, Medicare, state unemployment, mandatory retirement — were subtracted before the garnishment percentage was applied. If your employer improperly subtracted voluntary items like health insurance or 401(k) contributions from the base, that would inflate the garnishment. Confirm the label matches the debt you actually owe, and confirm any case number or creditor name matches the paperwork you received.

You generally have the right to request a hearing to challenge a garnishment. Grounds vary by debt type and jurisdiction but commonly include claiming the debt has been paid, that the wrong person is being garnished, or that the amount exceeds legal limits. For a federal student loan garnishment, you can file a financial hardship objection documenting your income and basic living expenses.⁷ For an IRS levy, return the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status within three days so the exempt amount does not default to the lowest tier.⁶ If the withholding is accurate but you cannot manage it, a consumer debt or tax attorney can identify state exemptions and negotiate with the creditor.

1
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Cross-Servicing: For Employers – Administrative Wage Garnishment
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Wage Garnishment
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6334 – Property Exempt from Levy
6
Internal Revenue Service. Information About Wage Levies
7
eCFR. 34 CFR 34.24 – Claim of Financial Hardship by Debtor Subject to Garnishment