If a taxpayer owns a significant asset, the IRS and California can place a lien against those assets which must be paid when the asset is sold. Liens have a significant impact on credit ratings, and the ability to obtain the lines of credit needed to maintain or grow a business. However, the harshest tactics of IRS and California tax collectors are levies and garnishment. The IRS, FTB, BOE and EDD have the ability to seize money in your personal and business bank accounts, and any monies that will be deposited in the future. This is called a “levy”. In addition, the IRS and California’s tax agencies can garnish your wages and income, requiring you to pay a portion of every payment or paycheck you receive to pay your tax debt.

“If they seize my bank accounts and garnish my wages how am I supposed to live, keep working and ever be in a position to pay what I owe?”

The IRS has established a national “cost of living” model that determines how much you are able to keep in order to have a home, purchase gas and live. The cost of living in California is significantly higher than almost every other part of the nation, and the vast majority of Californians who attempt to work through garnishments or other programs with the IRS find that they simply cannot afford to live based on what the IRS allows under this “cost of living” model.

“I can’t afford to live on what they are going to allow me to keep. The garnishment is too much. What am I supposed to do, quit my job and move?”