Louisiana Wage Garnishment Calculator

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Louisiana Wage Garnishment Calculator

How much a Louisiana paycheck can lose to a wage garnishment, support assignment, tax levy, student loan or Chapter 13 plan. La. R.S. 13:3921, 13:3881, 47:1570, 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677. Estimates only.

Rules encoded (VERIFY): an ordinary wage garnishment takes the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50); 75% of disposable earnings stays exempt (La. R.S. 13:3921, 13:3881). At or below the floor nothing is seized. Support assignments follow the CCPA tiers 50 / 55 / 60 / 65% of disposable earnings and take priority. Louisiana Department of Revenue wage garnishments under La. R.S. 47:1570 and IRS levies sit outside the 25% cap; LDR is modeled at 25% of disposable. Federal student loan AWG uses 15% with the federal floor. The judgment fixing the portion subject to seizure also sets an employer processing fee (La. R.S. 13:3921 – VERIFY amount). Louisiana is a community property state, which can affect whose wages answer for a debt (VERIFY). No discharge for one garnishment (15 U.S.C. 1674).

1. Mode, parish and pay date

Stack uses the order boxes in section 3.
Affects the IRS table; Louisiana matches the federal $7.25 minimum.
City, Parish or District Court venue.
La. R.S. 13:3921 tests run weekly; scaled by 52 / periods.
Select a parish to see the court venue note and the statewide protected floor.

2. Gross pay and legally required withholding

Includes bonuses and commissions.
Voluntary 401(k) excluded.
Take-home only; not in the garnishment base.

3. Order type and amounts

0 applies the statutory maximum.
Informational; support sits outside the 25% aggregate.
Shares the 25% ceiling.

4. Balance and payoff

Louisiana judicial interest varies with the statutory rate (La. C.C. art. 2000 / R.S. 9:3500.2 – VERIFY); 6% entered as a placeholder.

How it works

  • Disposable = gross minus legally required withholding; voluntary shown separately; 75% remains exempt.
  • Weekly conversion = 52 / periods (1, 2, 2.1667, 4.3333); the 13:3921 tests run weekly.
  • Floor = 30x $7.25 = $217.50 weekly; at or below it nothing is seized.
  • Consumer cap = lesser of 25% of disposable and the above-floor amount, reduced by other non-support garnishments.
  • Support = lesser of ordered and the CCPA tier 50 / 55 / 60 / 65% of disposable, with priority.
  • Student loan = lesser of 15% disposable and above the federal 30x floor.
  • IRS = disposable above Pub 1494 exempt; LDR = modeled at 25% of disposable under 47:1570; neither uses the state cap.
  • Stack applies precedence in order and the 25% aggregate on non-support, non-tax orders.
  • Payoff amortizes at the entered rate and flags non-amortizing or zero-withholding cases.

Sources

  • La. R.S. 13:3921 (judgment fixing portion subject to seizure, processing fee) and 13:3881 et seq. (exemptions): legis.la.gov
  • Louisiana Law Help garnishment issues (25% cap, $217.50 floor, 75% exempt): louisianalawhelp.org
  • DCFS child support employer resource guide (CCPA tiers, priority): dcfs.louisiana.gov
  • La. R.S. 47:1570 and LDR wage garnishment page (state tax levy): revenue.louisiana.gov
  • 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677 and DOL Fact Sheet 30: dol.gov
  • Louisiana small claims and city court jurisdiction ($5,000 small claims; city court to $20,000-$35,000): louisianalegalservicesauthority.com and brla.gov
  • IRS Pub 1494 and Form 668-W: irs.gov
  • 20 U.S.C. 1095a, 34 CFR 34.19: studentaid.gov
  • La. C.C. art. 2000 and R.S. 9:3500.2 (judicial interest): legis.la.gov

Test cases

TC1 Orleans Parish, 2026, weekly. Gross $1,000.00; required $200.00; disposable $800.00. 25% cap $200.00; floor room $800.00 minus $217.50 = $582.50. Withheld $200.00, take-home $600.00, 25.00%. $4,000 at 6% clears in 21 weeks, total $4,200.00, interest $200.00.
TC2 Jefferson Parish, 2026, weekly. Gross $260.00; required $50.00; disposable $210.00, at or below the $217.50 floor. Withheld $0.00; the 75% exemption shields the entire paycheck.
TC3 Caddo Parish, 2026, biweekly. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Child support, no second family, arrears 12 weeks or older: 65% tier $1,196.00; ordered $1,200.00. Withheld $1,196.00, take-home $644.00.
TC4 Lafayette Parish, 2026, biweekly, stack. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. Support $300.00; LDR requested $200.00 against its modeled 25% cap $460.00; consumer requested $400.00 within the $460.00 25% cap and $1,405.00 floor room. Total $900.00, take-home $940.00.
TC5 East Baton Rouge Parish, 2026, semimonthly. Gross $2,600.00; required $600.00; disposable $2,000.00. Federal student loan AWG 15% = $300.00; federal floor $471.25 per period leaves $1,528.75. Withheld $300.00, take-home $1,700.00. $9,000 at 0% clears in 30 periods, about 1.25 years.
Estimates only; not legal advice. All figures VERIFY, including the 25% and 30x floor formula and 75% exemption of La. R.S. 13:3921 and 13:3881, the employer processing fee, the CCPA support tiers in the DCFS guide, the LDR modeled 25% under 47:1570, city and parish court jurisdiction limits, community property effects and the judicial interest rate. Pub 1494 estimate uses 2026 standard deductions ($16,100 / $24,150 / $32,200) plus $5,300 per dependent plus $1,600 per age-65 or blind box. Not modeled: service-date priority, contested exemption hearings, automatic stays, self-employment income, bonuses, severance, pensions, unemployment or workers compensation, and community property offsets. Consult a Louisiana attorney or Louisiana Legal Services. Deploy: replace the block, Update, purge cache, hard refresh; verify document.getElementById(“louisiana-wage-garnishment-calculator”).getAttribute(“data-js-ready”) returns “true” with no SyntaxError.

What Is a Louisiana Wage Garnishment Calculator?

A Louisiana wage garnishment calculator estimates how much may be taken from a pay period after legally required deductions are removed from gross pay. This calculator then applies the formula for the selected order type, including ordinary judgment limits, support percentages, student loan rules, tax levies, or a Chapter 13 payment.

The tool offers Single order, Stacking - five order types, and Payoff timeline modes. Its main output is Withheld per pay period. It also shows disposable earnings, protected income, the applicable cap, weekly and annual withholding, estimated take-home pay, and the percentage of disposable earnings withheld.

Stack mode adds a priority waterfall for five entered orders. Payoff mode uses the calculated periodic withholding to estimate how many pay periods may be needed to satisfy an entered balance.

How the Louisiana Wage Garnishment Calculation Works

The calculator starts by finding disposable earnings. It adds federal income tax, Louisiana income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. If those entered deductions exceed gross pay, the required-withholding amount is capped at gross pay.

D=G−min⁡(G,R)D=G-\min(G,R)

Here, D is disposable earnings, G is gross pay for the period, and R is total legally required withholding. Voluntary deductions are not removed when disposable earnings are calculated.

The tool converts disposable earnings to a weekly amount. It uses 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly, or 12 monthly pay periods per year.

Dw=D×P52D_w=D\times\frac{P}{52}

P is the number of pay periods per year. The calculator uses a protected weekly floor equal to 30 times $7.25, or $217.50.

Fw=30×7.25=217.50F_w=30\times7.25=217.50

The amount of disposable earnings above that protected level is converted back to the selected pay period:

H=max⁡(0,(Dw−217.50)×52P)H=\max\left(0,(D_w-217.50)\times\frac{52}{P}\right)

Consumer and Private Student Loan Judgments

Consumer or contract judgments and private student loan judgments use the calculator's ordinary garnishment formula. It compares 25% of disposable earnings, the amount above the protected floor, and remaining room under the 25% ceiling after other non-support garnishments.

C=min⁡(0.25D,H,max⁡(0,0.25D−O))C=\min\left(0.25D,H,\max(0,0.25D-O)\right)

C is the ordinary judgment cap and O is Other non-support garnishments. If Amount demanded per period is greater than zero and below the calculated cap, the calculator uses that smaller demanded amount. Entering zero tells the tool to use its full calculated maximum.

The Support already withheld field is informational in this calculation. The code displays that value but does not subtract it from the ordinary judgment cap.

Child and Spousal Support

Child support and spousal support use a percentage of disposable earnings. The calculator uses 50% when the Second family box is selected and 60% when it is not. Selecting Arrears 12 weeks or older adds 5 percentage points.

Cs=rDC_s=rD

The implemented support rate r can therefore be 50%, 55%, 60%, or 65%. A positive demanded amount below the calculated ceiling reduces withholding to that entered amount. The calculator also prevents support withholding from exceeding disposable earnings.

Federal Student Loan Garnishment

The federal student loan administrative wage garnishment branch compares 15% of disposable earnings with the amount above the calculator's $217.50 weekly floor.

CAWG=min⁡(0.15D,H)C_{AWG}=\min(0.15D,H)

The smaller value becomes the calculated federal student loan cap. A positive demanded amount below that cap reduces the result. In Single order mode, the Other non-support garnishments field is not subtracted from this federal student loan calculation.

IRS Levy Calculation

The IRS levy branch estimates an exempt amount from a built-in value for the selected wage year and filing status. It adds $5,300 for each dependent and $1,600 for each age-65-or-blind box, then divides the result by pay periods per year.

E=S+5300d+1600bPE=\frac{S+5300d+1600b}{P}
CIRS=max⁡(0,D−E)C_{IRS}=\max(0,D-E)

S is the calculator's stored value for the selected year and filing status, d is the dependent count, and b is the age-65-or-blind count. The available wage years are 2024, 2025, and 2026. A positive Override exempt amount replaces the calculated exemption.

LDR Wage Garnishment and Chapter 13

The Louisiana Department of Revenue wage garnishment branch is modeled at 25% of disposable earnings.

CLDR=0.25DC_{LDR}=0.25D

The Chapter 13 branch converts the entered monthly plan payment to the selected pay frequency and limits it to available disposable earnings.

CCh13=min⁡(D,12MP)C_{Ch13}=\min\left(D,\frac{12M}{P}\right)

M is the monthly Chapter 13 plan payment. In both branches, a positive Amount demanded per period below the calculated cap can further reduce the single-order withholding result.

Worked Example

Assume weekly gross pay of $1,000 and $200 of legally required withholding. There are no other non-support garnishments, and the selected order is a consumer judgment with Amount demanded set to $0.

D=1000−200=800D=1000-200=800

Twenty-five percent of $800 is $200. Disposable earnings above the $217.50 protected weekly floor equal $582.50. With no other non-support garnishments, remaining aggregate room is also $200.

C=min⁡(200,582.50,200)=200C=\min(200,582.50,200)=200

The calculator therefore displays $200.00 withheld for the period. If voluntary deductions are $0, estimated take-home pay is $600.00. The garnishment equals 25.00% of disposable earnings.

How to Use the Louisiana Wage Garnishment Calculator

  1. Select Single order, Stacking - five order types, or Payoff timeline.
  2. Choose the wage year, Louisiana parish, and pay frequency. Biweekly is the starting pay-frequency selection.
  3. Enter gross pay and any federal income tax, Louisiana income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding.
  4. Enter voluntary deductions separately. They affect estimated take-home pay but do not reduce the disposable-earnings base.
  5. Select an order type and enter the demanded amount, existing support, and other non-support garnishments when relevant.
  6. For support, select the Second family and Arrears 12 weeks or older boxes as needed for the scenario being modeled.
  7. For an IRS levy or Chapter 13 plan, complete the additional fields that appear.
  8. For Payoff timeline mode, enter the balance owed and annual interest rate. The interest input starts at 6%, which the calculator labels as a placeholder to verify.
  9. Check the required acknowledgment and select Calculate. Use Reset to restore the calculator's initial values.

Gross pay must be greater than zero before the tool will calculate. The main result is Withheld per pay period. The results also show weekly and annual withholding, take-home pay, the percentage of disposable earnings withheld, and the binding factor identified by the calculator.

Understanding Stack and Payoff Results

Stack Mode

Stack mode processes five entered amounts in this sequence: support, IRS levy, LDR garnishment, federal student loan, and consumer judgment. Support is limited by its selected percentage ceiling and remaining disposable earnings. The IRS step then compares its requested amount with the amount remaining above the estimated IRS exemption.

LDR withholding is limited to the requested amount, 25% of the original disposable earnings, and the amount still remaining. Federal student loan withholding is then limited to the requested amount, 15% of original disposable earnings, and the protected-floor calculation.

In the implemented stack code, the federal student loan step is not separately capped by the remaining-income variable before it is subtracted. The final consumer judgment is limited by its ordinary judgment cap, remaining room under the 25% non-support ceiling after the student-loan amount, and remaining earnings.

The Stack panel displays each of the five withholding amounts, Total withheld, Take-home after waterfall, and an explanatory note showing the disposable amount, protected level, support ceiling, and 25% aggregate figure.

Payoff Timeline

Payoff mode uses calculated withholding as the payment made each pay period. The periodic interest rate is the entered annual percentage rate divided by 100 and by the number of pay periods per year.

i=APR100Pi=\frac{APR}{100P}

For a positive interest rate, the periodic payment must exceed one period of interest on the starting balance. When it does, the calculator estimates the number of payments and rounds upward to a whole pay period.

n=⌈−ln⁡(1−BiQ)ln⁡(1+i)⌉n=\left\lceil\frac{-\ln\left(1-\frac{Bi}{Q}\right)}{\ln(1+i)}\right\rceil

B is the balance, Q is withholding per pay period, and n is the number of periods. If the payment is less than or equal to one period of interest on the starting balance, the calculator reports that the balance never amortizes.

With positive interest, Total paid equals the rounded number of periods multiplied by the full periodic payment. Interest paid equals that total minus the original balance. At 0% interest, the calculator rounds balance divided by payment upward, displays the original balance as Total paid, and shows $0.00 interest.

Stack mode also renders the payoff panel using total stacked withholding as the periodic payment. Balance owed is required only when Payoff timeline mode is selected, so Stack mode can display a payoff panel with a zero balance when no balance has been entered.

Important Inputs and Calculation Limits

Most dollar inputs accept values from $0 through $10,000,000. Balance owed allows values through $100,000,000. Interest per year accepts values from 0% through 40%. The IRS Dependents field accepts 0 through 20, while Age 65 or blind accepts 0 through 2.

The parish field is required. It changes the City, Parish, or District Court venue text shown in the results and region note, but it does not create a parish-specific numerical garnishment formula.

Pay frequency does affect the calculation. It changes weekly conversions, the IRS exemption estimate, Chapter 13 period payments, annual withholding, and payoff timing.

Voluntary deductions are treated differently from required deductions. They are excluded from disposable earnings but are subtracted when the tool estimates take-home pay. The displayed take-home amount cannot fall below zero.

T=max⁡(0,G−R−V−W)T=\max(0,G-R-V-W)

T is estimated take-home pay, V is voluntary deductions, and W is calculated withholding.

Currency outputs use U.S. dollar formatting with two decimal places. The share of disposable earnings withheld is displayed with two percentage decimal places. A visual meter scales that percentage against a 65% support maximum and changes appearance at 10% and 25%. The meter itself does not affect the calculation.

The calculator also displays legal and procedural notes about the selected parish, exemptions, community property, employer processing, and employment protection. Those notes do not change the arithmetic unless an input or calculation branch specifically uses them.

This is a legal and financial estimate based on the calculator's encoded assumptions and the values you enter. Actual withholding may depend on the specific order, exemptions, court proceedings, tax levy documents, interest rules, and other facts. The calculator itself marks legal rules and rates for verification, so its output should not be treated as legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the calculator determine disposable earnings?

It subtracts entered federal income tax, Louisiana income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding from gross pay. If required withholding exceeds gross pay, the calculator caps it at gross pay. Voluntary deductions do not reduce disposable earnings.

What happens if weekly disposable earnings are at or below $217.50?

For the ordinary consumer and private student loan judgment branch, the amount above the protected floor becomes zero. Because the ordinary formula uses the smallest applicable limit, this produces $0 withholding under that branch when weekly disposable earnings do not exceed $217.50.

How does the calculator choose between the 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65% support rates?

The tool uses 50% when Second family is selected and 60% when it is not. Selecting Arrears 12 weeks or older adds 5 percentage points. That creates the four support ceilings implemented by the code: 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65% of disposable earnings.

What does entering $0 for Amount demanded per period mean?

In Single order mode, zero tells the calculator to use the maximum produced by the selected order type's calculation. If you enter a positive demanded amount below the calculated cap, the calculator uses that smaller entered amount instead.

Does Support already withheld reduce an ordinary judgment?

No. The calculator displays Support already withheld, but its ordinary consumer-cap function does not subtract that value. Other non-support garnishments do reduce available room because the calculator subtracts them from the 25% aggregate ceiling.

How does the IRS levy estimate work?

The calculator starts with a stored amount for the selected wage year and filing status, adds $5,300 per dependent and $1,600 per age-65-or-blind box, and divides the result by annual pay periods. A positive Override exempt amount replaces that calculated figure.

What happens if payoff withholding does not cover the interest?

The calculator reports that the balance never amortizes when the payment per period is less than or equal to the interest accruing on the starting balance during one period. A zero withholding amount also prevents a payoff estimate because no periodic payment is available to reduce the balance.

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