Tax Deductions for Garnishments | Sapling

Tax Deductions for Garnishments

Will My Kids Get Back Pay for My SSD?
Written By
Craig Berman
Craig Berman
Jun 30, 2011
1 minute read

Garnishments are treated like any other debts for tax purposes. If the debt that the garnishment is collecting is deductible, you can use it to reduce your tax burden. It's the nature of the debt that counts -- not the manner of its collection. However, any wages garnished from your paycheck still have to be considered when determining your tax burden.

Same as Other Bills

The bills being collected via garnishment can be deducted only if they would be deductible regardless of how they were paid. For example, if you have severe medical bills that total more than 10 percent of your adjusted gross income, any bills paid as the result of a wage garnishment can be counted towards that deduction. In this scenario, you're still paying the medical bills -- the fact that you're doing so involuntarily doesn't negate that fact at tax time

Garnished Wages Count

If your wages were garnished, you'll take home less money in your paycheck. However, you'll still pay taxes on the garnished amount as though you were being paid your normal wages. That money is considered to be earned income and will be displayed as such on the tax forms your employer sends you at the end of the year.

Craig Berman

Craig Berman has been on the reality TV beat since Carrie Underwood was an unknown country singer from Oklahoma, and writing about sports and business for even longer. He writes about "American Idol" for Today.com, and his work has…

Sponsored
Sapling Logo

We demystify personal finance and make financial adulting easier. From student loans to credit and investing, all the money questions you were ever afraid to ask are right here.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.