Wage garnishments for taxes

What is a wage garnishment for taxes?

A wage garnishment requires employers to withhold and transmit a portion of an employee’s wages until the balance on the order is paid in full or the order is released by us.

We issue an earnings withholding order for taxes (EWOT), FTB 2905 for collection of:

• Past due income tax obligations
• Taxpayer liability penalties

If you received an order for your employee for taxes

As an employer, you must send the requested amount on the order to us. We may hold you responsible for the debt if you do not comply.

How to comply with your employee’s order

Give a copy of the order to your employee within 10 days of receiving the order. (pages 1A, 1B, and 3)

Provide us with the following:

• Employer’s acknowledgment
• First payment within 15 days of the last pay period
• Employer’s copy of the order with every payment
• Continue sending payment until the balance is paid in full

Determining the payment amount

Keep in mind:

• Knowing how much to send is part of compliance.
• Over or under garnishing your employee’s pay can cause complications to their FTB account.
• We base payment amounts on your pay periods and your employee’s required deductions.

If your employee has multiple orders

Third-party payment submission forms allow FTB to properly apply payment from one check to multiple taxpayers in an efficient manner.

Use our collection hierarchy to find out how to handle multiple orders.

Adjusting the garnishment amount on your employees pay

Only we can adjust or modify how much you garnish from your employee’s pay. If we adjust or modify the employee’s garnishment, we will send you a new order.

Submit your employee’s payment

Electronic funds transfer (EFT)

Visit Electronic funds transfer for more information.

Mail your payment

Send checks and related forms to:

Franchise Tax Board

PO Box 942840
Sacramento CA 94240-0040