California FTB notice decoder
FTB 2905: the California tax wage garnishment
An Earnings Withholding Order for Taxes tells your employer to send the FTB up to 25% of your wages until the balance is paid. The exact math comes from the FTB's own table: nothing is withheld if weekly pay after required deductions is $217.50 or less, amounts between $217.51 and $290 are withheld above the $217.50 floor, and at $290.01 or more the withholding is a flat 25% of pay after deductions. Employers must comply or become liable for the debt themselves.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Deadlines and dollar figures below reflect what the Franchise Tax Board publishes and can change; the controlling dates are the ones printed on your own notice. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the Franchise Tax Board or any government agency.
Where you are in California's collection sequence
- FTB 4600Request for return
- FTB 4601Demand, penalties loom
- NPAProposed assessment, 60 days
- FTB 4963The bill
- Final NoticeLevy warning, 30 days
- EWOT / OTWWages or bank levied you are here
How the money is calculated
Pay after subtractions means gross pay minus federally required deductions: federal income tax, Social Security, state income tax, and state disability insurance. Voluntary deductions do not reduce the figure. The FTB notes that increases in California's minimum wage do not change this table, because tax garnishments follow the federal formula under CCP section 706.074 and 15 U.S.C. 1673(a), anchored to the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
That legal wiring produces a fact most people find backwards: since a 2023 amendment, ordinary judgment creditors in California are capped at 20% of disposable earnings under CCP 706.050, but the tax collector's own orders still take 25%. The state changed the rule for everyone except itself.
The employer's obligations
- Give you a copy
- within 10 days of receiving the order
- First payment to the FTB
- within 15 days of the last pay period
- If the employer does not comply
- the FTB states it may hold the employer responsible for the debt
From the FTB's wage garnishment pages. Employers cannot simply ignore an EWOT, and asking yours to do so puts them at risk.
Getting it reduced or released
The FTB's listed paths: pay the balance, contact them about financial hardship for a possible modification, or, if the balance is actually paid, contact them to close the account and release the order. Modification requests can be started through MyFTB.
One procedural trap: with an active wage garnishment you cannot apply for an installment agreement online; the FTB requires a phone call. Getting a plan in place is still the standard route to ending a garnishment on a debt you owe.
FTB 2905 questions
How much can the FTB garnish from my paycheck?
Up to 25% of pay after required deductions, per the FTB's published table: nothing at $217.50 a week or less, the amount above $217.50 between $217.51 and $290, and 25% at $290.01 or more. This runs on the federal formula, so California minimum wage increases do not raise the protected floor for tax debts the way they do for ordinary judgments.
Can my employer refuse to garnish my wages?
Not safely. The FTB requires the employer to provide you a copy within 10 days, remit within 15 days of the pay period, and states it may hold the employer responsible for the debt for noncompliance.
How do I stop an FTB wage garnishment?
Pay the balance, demonstrate financial hardship for a modification, or resolve the account through a payment arrangement, which requires calling since the online application is unavailable once a garnishment exists. If the balance was already paid, contact the FTB to release the order.
Is the FTB garnishment more than the IRS takes?
They use opposite designs. The IRS wage levy exempts an amount based on your filing status and dependents and can take everything above it, sometimes most of a paycheck. The FTB takes a flat 25% of pay after required deductions. Which bites harder depends on your income and household.
Sources: FTB: Withholding orders, FTB: Wage garnishments for taxes, FTB: Payment amount table, CCP 706.074. The deadline that governs your case is the one printed on your notice.
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