FORM 668-W: Notice of Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income (Continuous Wage Levy)

What it is

Not a warning — enforcement itself, and unlike a bank levy it repeats every payday. Form 668-W is the levy the IRS serves on your employer to take part of your wages for an unpaid tax debt; by statute, a levy on salary or wages is continuous from the date it is first made until it is released (IRC §6331(e)). By law this stage comes only after the IRS assessed the tax and sent a bill, payment was neglected or refused, and a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing (the LT11 / Letter 1058 stage) was sent at least 30 days before the levy — so a 668-W at your employer normally means the final-warning window has already run. The IRS mails Publication 1494 with the levy to explain to your employer how much of your take-home pay is exempt each pay period; irs.gov states a portion of your wages is exempt from levy, and the amount depends on your filing status and dependents.

Why you got it

Served on an employer to collect an overdue tax balance after the required pre-levy sequence ran without payment, a payment arrangement, or a timely hearing request. Per irs.gov it stays in place until you make other arrangements to pay the overdue taxes, the amount owed is paid, or the levy is released.

The deadline structure

Two clocks matter, and neither is a typical 'respond by' date. First, an immediate one: your employer gives you the levy's Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to complete and return within 3 days (Publication 1494 refers to the taxpayer's entries on Parts 3, 4, and 5 of the levy form). If you do not return it within 3 days, irs.gov says your exempt amount is figured as if you were married filing separately with no dependents. Second, an open-ended one: the levy is continuous — it applies to every paycheck until the balance is paid, you make other payment arrangements, or the IRS releases it. There is no date on which it simply expires.

The 3-day window for returning the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to your employer only sets how much of each paycheck is protected — it does not end the levy. The levy itself has no expiration date; per IRC §6331(e) it is continuous until released under §6343.

How to respond

• Complete and return the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status to your employer within 3 days of receiving it, so the exempt amount is figured from your actual filing status and dependents (Publication 1494 tables) instead of the married-filing-separately, no-dependents default
• Call the telephone number shown on the Form 668-W — irs.gov points to that number for questions about the levy, and its levy-release page says to contact the IRS immediately to resolve the liability and request a release
• Request release on the grounds irs.gov and IRC §6343(a) list: paid in full, collection period ended, release will help you pay, an installment agreement whose terms don't allow the levy to continue, economic hardship, or property worth more than the amount owed — and for wages specifically, irs.gov states that a levy creating an immediate economic hardship 'must be released' (expect to provide financial information)
• Appeal: Publication 1660 (Collection Appeal Rights) says the Collection Appeals Program (CAP) is available before or after the IRS places a levy on your wages (Form 9423 route — but a CAP decision cannot be taken to court), and a late CDP request can be made as an 'equivalent hearing' within 1 year of the levy notice — though that does not prohibit levy and carries no Tax Court right

What ignoring it leads to

The levy does not lapse. irs.gov says it continues until you make other arrangements to pay your overdue taxes, the amount you owe is paid, or the levy is released — meaning part of every paycheck keeps going to the IRS. And if the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status never comes back within 3 days, the exempt amount is computed as married filing separately with no dependents, regardless of your actual situation.

Mistakes people make with a FORM 668-W

• Ignoring the Statement of Dependents and Filing Status or missing the 3-day return window — the default calculation (married filing separately, no dependents) then sets your exempt amount, whatever your real filing status and family situation
• Waiting for the levy to run out — a wage levy is continuous by statute (IRC §6331(e)); unlike a bank levy, which irs.gov says normally reaches only funds in the account when it is received, a 668-W applies to every future paycheck until it is paid, arranged, or released
• Assuming the exempt amount protects most of the paycheck — it is figured from Publication 1494's tables, which are keyed to filing status and number of dependents (roughly the standard deduction spread across pay periods), not to your actual monthly bills
• Not raising economic hardship — for a levy on wages, irs.gov states that a levy creating an immediate economic hardship 'must be released,' though a release does not erase the balance: the IRS notes you still owe it and will work with you on payment

Official sources

• Information about wage levies
• Publication 1494, Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt from Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income (Forms 668-W(ACS) and 668-W(ICS)) (PDF)
• What if a levy is causing a hardship
• 26 U.S. Code § 6331 — Levy and distraint

Our summary paraphrases these sources. Last verified: BUILD 2026-07-11 (Claude Fable 5; researched from live irs.gov fetches: /businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/{levy, what-is-a-levy, information-about-wage-levies, how-do-i-get-a-levy-released, what-if-a-levy-is-causing-a-hardship}, /individuals/understanding-your-lt11-notice-or-letter-1058, /pub/irs-pdf/p1494.pdf (Rev. 12-2025, 2026 tables), /pub/irs-pdf/p1660.pdf (Rev. 1-2020), /newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs, /help/tax-scams/recognize-tax-scams-and-fraud; law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6331 and /6343) — re-verify before launch. Your printed notice always controls.

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