[issa1]

I am retired and have Social Security, a small fed gov pension, and state retirement. I owe back taxes and student loans. What percent of my income can the government levy.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

If you owe state taxes, the state will go after the state retirement.

If you owe federal taxes, the IRS will go after BOTH the state retirement and federal government pension.

In most cases, the IRS cannot garnish the Social Security unless they can show that you do NOT need the Social Security to maintain a minimum standard of living. You need to be pro-active about this and submit the necessary paperwork to show that losing your Social Security nebefits will cause egregious harm to your financial well-being.