House Dem seeks to limit IRS levies

A House Democrat is pushing to keep the IRS from seizing assets from struggling taxpayers as a way to settle tax debts. 

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would protect also taxpayers who make less than 250 percent of the federal poverty rate – roughly $29,000 a year for a single taxpayer – from getting their wages or retirement accounts garnished.

{mosads}In a statement, Watson Coleman said the IRS already had plenty of ways to ensure the proper amount of taxes get collected without hurting people for whom “every penny you get is going toward things that are keeping you above water – things like rent, groceries, and train fare to get you to and from your job.”

“Recklessly recouping the funds from already economically vulnerable Americans will be the final financial blow for these families,” Watson Coleman added.

The New Jersey Democrat’s bill wouldn’t excuse taxpayers from paying an outstanding bill. But it would force the IRS to rely more heavily on methods like payment plans to collect revenue from taxpayers facing economic hardships.

Nina Olson, the nation’s taxpayer advocate, has found that the IRS has continued to use approaches like wage garnishments even after a 2011 federal court ruling that found the agency overstepped its bounds when it proposed levies on struggling taxpayers.

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