This page is meant to provide general guidance about the garnishment process as it relates to garnishments issued by the Oregon Department of Revenue. This page should not be taken as legal advice.
Common terms
During the garnishment process you may encounter the following terms.
Garnishee: The person to whom the Notice of Garnishment has been delivered. Examples of a garnishee would be an employer or a bank.
Garnishor: The issuer of the Notice of Garnishment. For garnishments issued by the Department of Revenue, the department is the garnishor.
Debtor: The individual or business who owes a debt.
Exempt Property: Property that is protected by state or federal law from seizure or garnishment.
What is a Notice of Garnishment?
If you are an individual or business owing tax or Other Agency Account (OAA) debt and do not take voluntary steps to resolve your debt, the department may issue a Notice of Garnishment. There are three types of Notice of Garnishment that we may issue.
Wage garnishments: These require your employer to withhold, from your paycheck, a percentage of wages to apply to your balance. This type of garnishment will continue until your balance is paid in full or released by the department.
A wage garnishment doesn’t mean that we will garnish all your wages. The notice instructs the garnishee to withhold up to 25 percent of your take home wages. In addition, for garnishments on non-tax debt collected by OAA, a minimum wage exemption applies. This means that you must make over a certain amount before the garnishee can withhold and send payments to OAA.
Bank garnishments: We send these to financial institutions to attach, or hold, all funds belonging to you. We are entitled to receive up to the amount that you owe. This type of garnishment attaches to funds held by the financial institution at the time they receive the garnishment. If the amount garnished is not sufficient to pay the balance-in-full, we may issue an additional garnishment for amounts deposited after the first garnishment. A financial institution might charge you an additional fee to process the garnishment.
Third-party garnishments: Are used to garnish assets belonging to you but held by a third-party. This may include 1099 income, stocks, securities, funds held by third-party payment processors, and unclaimed property from Oregon Department of State Lands. This type of garnishment attaches to funds held by the third-party at the time they receive the garnishment. If the amount garnished is not sufficient to pay the balance-in-full, we may issue an additional garnishment for assets available after the first garnishment was received.
What do I do if I believe the property or money that was seized isn’t allowed to be taken?
If you think that we have garnished property or money that is exempt (protected by law) from garnishment you may submit a Challenge to Garnishment through
Revenue Online or submit the Challenge to Garnishment form. The form and instructions for challenging a garnishment are included with the copy of the Notice of Garnishment you received in the mail. Also included is a list of certain property or money that may not be garnished.
A Challenge to Garnishment may not be used to challenge whether the debt you owe is valid. By the time you receive the Notice of Garnishment, you have already had the opportunity to appeal the validity of the debt.
If you have received a Notice of Garnishment from us you only have a certain amount of time, from the day you receive the notice, to mail or deliver your challenge.
- 120 days for garnishment of your wages or salary
- 30 days for garnishments of other money or property that is exempt
In response to your challenge of garnishment, you may receive one, or more, of the following correspondence.
What do I do if I still disagree with the denial of my garnishment challenge?
When we deny your challenge to garnishment you have the right to request a hearing within 90 days from receipt of the Challenge to Garnishment Response-Denial notice.
Upon receipt of your request for a hearing we will respond to you with a
Garnishment Challenge Denial Hearing Request notice. This notice is to inform you that we have received your request for a hearing and forwarded your request to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).
If we fail to respond to your challenge of garnishment within 14 days of receipt of your garnishment challenge, we automatically concede your challenge. Contact us if you believe this has occurred.
What options do I have if I can’t afford the garnishment?
The Notice of Garnishment has been issued against you. It does not mean that we will garnish all your wages. The notice instructs the garnishee to withhold up to 25 percent of your take home wages. In addition, for garnishments on non-tax debt collected by OAA, a minimum wage exemption applies. This means that you must make over a certain amount before the garnishee can withhold and send payments to OAA.
If you can’t afford the garnishment you may qualify for garnishment modification. A garnishment modification does not change the total amount you owe, rather, it changes the percentage withheld from your wages. You must demonstrate a financial hardship to qualify for a garnishment modification.
If you are experiencing a financial hardship, contact us to discuss your options. A Statement of Financial Condition Form may be required to qualify for a garnishment modification.
In response to your request for modification we will issue one of two letters.
- Modification of Garnishment: We use this letter to inform you, and your employer, that we have approved your request for modification of the percentage withheld from your wages. The modified percentage will be stated on the letter.
- Notice of Garnishment Modification Denial: We use this letter to inform you, based on the financial information we received, your request to modify the percentage withheld from your wages was denied.
What do I do if payments or adjustments to my balance are pending but my garnishment is still active?
In some situations, it may be appropriate to place a hold on your garnishment. A hold does not release your garnishment, but it will pause the garnishment payments. You may request a hold if any of the following actions will result in full resolution of debts included in the garnishment.
For tax and non-tax debt this includes:
- Payment in full made but not yet posted to your account.
- Submission of a paystub showing a pending garnishment payment.
For tax debt only, this includes:
- An amended return.
- An original return to replace a failure-to-file assessment.
- A pending approved
penalty waiver
- A timely appeal of the tax debt.
If any of the above situations apply to you, call us.
In response to an approved request for a hold on your garnishment, the garnishee will receive one of the following:
- Temporary Hold on Garnishment Notice: We use this letter to inform the garnishee to stop withholding, or other garnishment actions, until notified otherwise by us.
- Reinstatement of Garnishment: We use this letter to inform the garnishee to resume withholding according to the instructions on the Notice of Garnishment.
How do I and the garnishee know when the garnishment has stopped?
You can pay the balance of the debt(s) at any time. Once your payment in full has posted to your account, we’ll issue a Release of Garnishment Notice and send you and the garnishee a copy by mail. Delivery of the release notice is available by fax, upon request.
Other correspondence
In addition to the letters and notices listed above, the garnishee may receive the following correspondence:
- Garnishment Payoff: We use this letter to inform the garnishee of the current balance on the debts included in the Notice of Garnishment.
- Garnishee Revenue Online Awareness: We use this letter to assist garnishees to set up Revenue Online accounts to manage the garnishments they receive for their employees or customers. Contact us to request this letter.
Frequently asked questions
A wage garnishment and an order to withhold child support may occur at the same time. The copy of the Notice of Garnishment that was sent to your employer had instructions for calculating the correct amount to withhold.
In this situation you would be considered an interested third-party and have a right to challenge the garnishment. Follow the Challenge to Garnishment process explained above. This process gives you the opportunity to prove that the asset didn't belong to the adult child, rather that it belonged to you.
Generally, financial institutions can identify whether funds in your account are Social Security benefits, and they do not garnish it. However, in certain situations the financial institution may not be able to identify the benefits properly. This may result in the financial institution sending us funds which are exempt from garnishment. Follow the Challenge to Garnishment process explained above to prove that the amount received were Social Security benefits.
The balance may be different because:
- Interest accrues daily and will be updated every thirty days.
- You have additional debt that has been added to your account.
- You have incurred a penalty.
- You have made recent payments that applied to your balance.
The balance shown on Revenue Online is the most up-to-date information available. If you have further questions about your balance, contact us using the information above.