A. Upon a hearing with notice the Oklahoma Tax Commission shall be entitled to proceed by garnishment to collect any delinquent tax and to collect any penalty or interest due and owing as a result of a tax delinquency. Provided, that upon proper application under the procedures outlined herein, the court may issue an order continuing the garnishment for the collection of delinquent taxes, penalties or interest until the total amount of such delinquent taxes, penalties or interest have been collected.
B. The Oklahoma Tax Commission may garnish the accrued earnings of a delinquent taxpayer employee by sending notice to the taxpayer's employer. For the purpose of this section, "earnings" means any form of payment to an individual including, but not limited to, salary, wages, commission or other compensation, but does not include reimbursements for travel expenses for state employees. Such notice may be served by mail or by delivery by a field agent of the Tax Commission to the taxpayer's employer along with a copy to the delinquent taxpayer. Upon receipt of such notice of delinquency, the employer shall withhold from compensation due, or to become due to the employee, the total amount shown by the notice. The Tax Commission may direct the employer to withhold part of the amount due, not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of earnings per pay period, until the total amount as shown by the notice, plus interest and penalty, has been withheld and remitted to the Tax Commission. The employer's response and calculation of amounts withheld shall be on a form prescribed by the Tax Commission.
C. Within seven (7) days after the end of each pay period, or if the delinquent taxpayer does not have regular pay periods, within thirty (30) days from the date of the notice, the employer shall withhold amounts due or provide an explanation to the Tax Commission why amounts due will not be withheld and remitted to the Tax Commission. In any case in which the employee ceases to be employed by the employer before the full amount set forth in the notice of delinquency, plus delinquent penalty and interest, has been withheld by the employer, the employer shall immediately notify the Tax Commission in writing the date the employee resigned or was terminated. Any employer who knowingly and willfully refuses to respond by any means to the notice as provided in subsection B of this section may be liable for the total amount as set forth in the notice. The employer may not terminate the delinquent taxpayer employee based upon the notice of administrative wage garnishment.
D. An administrative wage garnishment may be issued after ninety (90) days in which the tax has become delinquent, notice has been sent to the taxpayer of the delinquency and possible remedies to resolve the delinquency have been provided to the taxpayer, and a tax warrant has been issued and filed pursuant to Section 231 of this title. The taxpayer shall have ten (10) days after the issuance of the notice to the employer to provide any additional information to the Tax Commission for the garnishment of wages to be withdrawn or released by the Tax Commission. The Tax Commission shall withdraw or adjust the garnishment for wages upon proof to the satisfaction of the Tax Commission that the delinquent tax, interest and penalty referred to in the notice have been paid or the taxpayer can show the wages subject to garnishment are exempt pursuant to state or federal law.
E. The Tax Commission shall prescribe or approve forms and promulgate rules and regulations for implementing the provisions of this section.
Added by Laws 1985, c. 356, § 10, emerg. eff. July 30, 1985. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 218, § 13, emerg. eff. June 9, 1986; Laws 2021, c. 15, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2021.