5 Powerful Maximum Wage Garnishment Limits You Must Know
The Consumer Credit Protection Act puts a federal limit on the amount your wages can be garnished.
What Is the Maximum Wage Garnishment?
The maximum amount that can be garnished from your paycheck is the lower of the following:
- 25% of your disposable income* if it’s greater than $290.
- Any amount greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage: $217.50.
Important Exceptions to Federal Limits
These limits don’t apply to garnishments for unpaid tax debts, bankruptcy court orders, child or spousal support, or voluntary wage assignments.
Child and Spousal Support Garnishment
For child and spousal support payments, up to 50% can be garnished if you have another child or spouse to support. Otherwise, you could be garnished up to 60%.
If you have to pay more than 12 weeks of back payments, you could be garnished an additional 5%.
Federal Agency Garnishment
Federal agencies can garnish up to 15% and the Department of Education can garnish 10%.
What Is Disposable Income?
*For the wage garnishment calculation, your disposable income is your gross income minus any legally required deductions including federal, state and local taxes, unemployment insurance, social security deductions, and state retirement systems.
State Wage Garnishment Laws
Your state may have different limits on wage garnishment.
In cases where the state wage garnishment limits are different from the federal limit, the one that results in the lower garnishment amount is used.
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