Some wage levies run for years. If yours has, there is a good chance your employer is using exempt amounts from the year the levy was served, not the current year. And the regulation says that is exactly what your employer is supposed to do, unless you act.
The frozen exemption rule
Treasury Regulation 301.6334-3(e) is short and important. The exempt amount is computed using the standard deduction and other amounts in effect in the taxable year in which the original notice of levy is served. Unless you submit a new verified statement, the exempt amount remains the same for later pay periods, “even if there is a change in the taxpayer’s factual situation or a change by operation of law (such as by indexing or otherwise)” to the standard deduction.
Translation: inflation adjustments do not reach your paycheck on their own. Neither does a new baby, a marriage or your 65th birthday. A new statement does.
How much money this can be
The standard deduction has climbed in recent years. For 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 puts it at $16,100 for single filers, $24,150 for heads of household and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and the per-dependent amount used for the levy at $5,300. Publication 1494 (Rev. 12-2025) turns that into a 2026 biweekly exemption of $619.23 for a single filer with no dependents and $203.85 for each dependent.
If your levy was served in an earlier year, compare the Pub. 1494 for that year with the 2026 version. The gap per paycheck, multiplied by every paycheck left on the levy, is what you are leaving on the table. The calculator shows the 2026 figure for your situation.
The IRS agrees you should update
This is not a trick. IRM 5.11.5.4.1 tells IRS employees that the taxpayer can give a new statement to the employer later to have the exempt amount recomputed. It gives two examples: the taxpayer’s filing status or dependents change, or there is a change in exempt rates in a new year.
The IRM goes further for very old levies. It says that if a levy was served before January 1, 2018, the effective date of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the exemption was calculated under the old law and “will not be accurate.” Taxpayers in that situation “should be instructed to file a new statement with their employer so that the exempt amount is calculated consistent with the current law.”
Why levies run this long
Usually because nobody did anything. IRM 5.11.5.6 explains that the IRS can monitor a continuous levy much like an installment agreement, and IRM 5.11.5.6.2 allows systemic monitoring with review dates up to five years out. The same IRM section is clear that a continuous levy is not an installment agreement and should not be used as an unofficial one. A long-running levy is a sign that the case drifted. It is worth a hard look, not just an updated statement.
How to update
- Get a blank statement. Ask payroll for the statement form that came with the levy, or ask the IRS for a new one.
- Complete it for the current year. Your current filing status, current dependents and any additional standard deduction for age or blindness. See how to fill it out.
- Give it to payroll with a short cover note asking them to recompute the exempt amount using the current Publication 1494 tables. Attach the 2026 Pub. 1494 if they do not have it.
- Keep a copy and a record of when you delivered it.
- Check the next two stubs. Payroll systems often need a manual change.
A sample cover note to payroll
Keep it short and specific. Something like this works:
Please find attached my updated Statement of Dependents and Filing Status for the IRS levy on my wages. Under Treasury Regulation 301.6334-3(e), the exempt amount remains the same unless the taxpayer submits a new verified statement, and IRM 5.11.5.4.1 provides for recomputation when a new statement is given. Please recompute my exempt amount using the current IRS Publication 1494 (Rev. 12-2025) tables for levies in 2026, effective with my next paycheck, and confirm the new figure to me in writing. Thank you.
Attach a copy of the 2026 Pub. 1494 pages for your filing status. Payroll staff handle many kinds of garnishments and may not see IRS levies often. Making their job easy gets your change made faster.
What if payroll pushes back?
Some payroll departments read the regulation’s first half, the part about freezing, and stop. Point them to the second half. The regulation says the amount stays the same unless the taxpayer submits a new verified statement. IRM 5.11.5.4.1 confirms a new statement leads to recomputation. If payroll still refuses, call the IRS office handling the levy and ask it to contact the employer.
Update every January
Because the regulation ties the exempt amount to the year the levy was served, a fresh statement after each new Publication 1494 comes out keeps you on current figures. It takes ten minutes. It is the easiest money in this entire process.
Updating is not the same as fixing
A current exemption helps. It does not end the levy. If you have been levied for years, take stock:
- Is the collection statute close? IRC 6502 generally allows 10 years to collect after assessment, and Treasury Regulation 301.6343-1(b)(1)(ii) says a continuing wage levy must be released at the end of that period. See wage levies and the collection statute.
- Could you qualify for an installment agreement that costs less per month than the levy? See installment agreements and levy release.
- Is the levy leaving you short of basic living expenses? See economic hardship release.
- Are the periods on the levy still collectible? IRM 5.11.2.3.4 describes releasing individual tax modules from a levy when, for example, the collection statute expires on one period.
Watch for periods that have expired
That last point deserves emphasis. A levy often lists several tax years, each with its own collection statute date. The IRM example in 5.11.2.3.4 describes a levy where the statute expired on the largest period, and the IRS issued a Form 668-D to tell the employer the remaining balance and identify the released module. If an old levy lists old years, ask the IRS to confirm the collection statute date for each one.
The regulation freezes your exemption in the year the levy was served. A new statement thaws it. Send one.