Avoiding a Wage Levy in California Understanding what a wage levy in California is may help you avoid running into this tax problem. A wage levy in California can be frustrating and exasperating and it is important that you know how you are going to avoid running into a wage levy.
What is a Levy A wage levy is when the government seizes your property to compensate for any tax debt that you have. Many people do not realize that a lien is the claim to the property and this is often made and used as a form of security for the specific tax debt. The levy is the action of coming and taking your property. When you have tax debt, you are opening up yourself to this type of action and if you wait too long, you may not be able to do anything about having your property taken from you to satisfy your debt. When people think about a tax levy in California, they often think that the government will seize their money. In reality, the government can seize anything that you own to ensure that the money that you owe the government is going to be taken care of. This means, that if you own a home, a car, a boat or any other type of asset, it could be taken away from you. You may also find that assets of yours are levied, even if you are not the individual that is holding them at the time that they are levied. This means, if you have retirement accounts, rental income, commissions or even a whole life insurance plan, you may find that these are taken to ensure that the debt is paid. Avoiding this debt in the beginning can often be the best way to keep your assets safe.
Start Preparing Early When you know that you are going to need to pay your taxes, you should be putting money away on a monthly basis to ensure that you are able to pay your taxes. Paying your taxes can be frustrating, but much less frustrating than having a wage levy in place. While you are working on paying your taxes, you should also realize that filing for an extension is an option. If you want to file for an extension, you should be sure that you file on time rather than filing late. It is important that your taxes are filed on time, whether you have the money to pay your taxes or not. Make sure that you understand how you are going to get your taxes turned in and filed without incurring any late penalty for filing your taxes improperly.
After you have filed your taxes, you can be sure that you are able to get the money together to pay your taxes. This way, you will be able to avoid any issue with the IRS and you will know that your property is going to be there for many years to come. Developing a pattern for paying taxes will save you a lot of time and energy. If you have not already developed this, learn how you can be consistent with paying your taxes on time. photo credit: Thomas Hawk, Cookie