What the IRS Cannot Seize: Property Exempt From Levy in 2026

When people hear the IRS can seize property, the next question is always: what can it not take? The answer is in IRC 6334, titled Property exempt from levy. It is a list, and the list is the whole story. IRC 6334(c) says that, notwithstanding any other federal law, no property is exempt from levy other than what subsection (a) specifically exempts.

That sentence does a lot of work. It means a state homestead exemption, a state wage exemption or a state exemption for retirement accounts does not stop a federal tax levy. Treasury Regulation 301.6334-1(c) says it directly: property exempt from execution under state personal or homestead exemption laws is nevertheless subject to levy by the United States for collection of its taxes.

The list in IRC 6334(a)

Here is what the statute exempts, in plain language:

• Wearing apparel and school books necessary for you or your family. The regulation adds that expensive items such as furs, which are luxuries and not necessary, are not exempt.
• Fuel, provisions, furniture and personal effects in your household, plus arms for personal use, livestock and poultry, up to a dollar limit. For 2026 the limit is $11,980.
• Books and tools necessary for your trade, business or profession, up to a dollar limit. For 2026 the limit is $5,990.
• Unemployment benefits.
• Undelivered mail.
• Certain annuity and pension payments: Railroad Retirement Act annuities, Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act benefits, Medal of Honor special pensions, and annuities based on retired or retainer pay under chapter 73 of title 10 of the U.S. Code.
• Workers' compensation.
• Salary or wages needed to comply with a court judgment for support of minor children entered before the levy.
• A minimum exemption for wages, salary and other income, calculated under IRC 6334(d).
• Certain service-connected disability payments to veterans.
• Certain public assistance payments, including Supplemental Security Income and needs-based state or local assistance.
• Certain Job Training Partnership Act payments.
• Residences in small-debt cases and, absent required approvals, principal residences and certain business assets.

The 2026 amounts come from Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.49. IRC 6334(g) adjusts both figures for inflation every year, rounded to the nearest $10.

How the dollar exemptions work in a seizure

The household goods and work tools exemptions are value caps, not item lists. IRC 6334(b) says the officer making the seizure must appraise the property and set aside to the owner the amount declared exempt. If you object at the time of the seizure to the officer's valuation, the IRS must summon three disinterested individuals to make the valuation.

That objection right is easy to lose. It exists at the time of seizure. If a revenue officer is inventorying your household goods or tools and the numbers look high, say so on the spot and ask for the three-person valuation.

IRM 5.10.1.5.3.6 also requires the revenue officer to account for exempt assets in the pre-seizure equity analysis. Exempt value cannot be counted as net proceeds, which means a seizure of modest household goods often fails the equity test before it starts. And IRS procedure requires your consent or a court order before seizing the contents of a residence under IRM 5.10.1.15, plus area director approval for the contents of a principal residence under IRM 5.10.2.4.

Your home and your business assets

Two exemptions in IRC 6334(a)(13) are conditional rather than absolute.

If the amount of the levy does not exceed $5,000, real property used as your residence, and real property you own that someone else uses as a residence (other than rental property), is exempt. Above $5,000, a principal residence is still exempt unless a federal district judge or magistrate approves the levy in writing under IRC 6334(e)(1). The details are in can the IRS seize my house.

Tangible personal property and non-rental real property used in the trade or business of an individual taxpayer is exempt unless an IRS area director personally approves the levy in writing, after determining that your other assets are insufficient to pay the debt and expenses, or unless collection is in jeopardy, under IRC 6334(e)(2). That rule is covered in seizure of business assets.

Income and benefits: what is and is not protected

Several items on the list are income streams rather than things. Unemployment benefits, workers' compensation, Supplemental Security Income and certain veterans' disability benefits are exempt.

Social Security retirement and disability benefits are not on the list. IRC 6334(c) specifically overrides section 207 of the Social Security Act, the provision that otherwise shields Social Security from creditors. The IRS can reach Social Security, often through the Federal Payment Levy Program, which is its own topic and handled with its own limits.

Wages are partly protected by the minimum exemption in IRC 6334(d). For years in which the personal exemption amount is zero, the exempt amount is based on the standard deduction plus a dependent amount; Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the dependent figure used in that calculation at $5,300 for 2026. Wage levies are their own subject with their own publication, so this page only notes that the exemption exists.

One more caution. IRC 6334(f) and IRC 6331(h) allow a continuous levy on certain otherwise exempt payments, such as unemployment benefits, workers' compensation and certain railroad and public assistance payments described in IRC 6331(h)(2), when the IRS approves a levy under that section. The exemption list is not the last word on automated federal payment levies.

What is not exempt

Because nothing outside the list is exempt, the following are generally reachable by levy, subject to the procedural protections in how seizure works:

• bank and investment accounts;
• vehicles, unless they qualify as business property requiring area director approval or fall within the household and personal effects cap;
• retirement plan assets, including IRAs, which IRM 5.10.2.4 lists among seizures requiring area director approval;
• second homes and rental property;
• boats, collectibles, jewelry and other personal property above the household cap;
• accounts receivable and other rights to payment.

Reachable does not mean likely. The IRS still has to clear the equity test, consider alternatives, and get approvals. But it does mean that relying on a state law exemption is a mistake when the creditor is the IRS.

A note on vehicles

Cars are the most commonly seized personal property, so the IRS has specific procedures for them. IRM 5.10.1.16 says no consent or writ of entry is needed when a vehicle is parked on a public street or county road, in an unobstructed driveway or front yard, or on an unsupervised part of a third party's premises open to the public, such as a public parking lot.

If the driveway is fenced, chained or roped off, or the vehicle is inside a garage or carport, the revenue officer needs your consent or a court order. And if the vehicle is used in the trade or business of an individual taxpayer, area director approval is required. A family car may also count toward the household personal effects exemption, which is one reason a modest vehicle is a poor seizure candidate once exemptions and expenses are taken into account.

Using the exemptions in a real case

Exemptions matter most in two moments. Before a seizure, they reduce the equity the IRS can count, which can defeat a seizure recommendation under the IRC 6331(j) investigation. During a seizure, they give you the right to have exempt property set aside and, if you object to the valuation, to an independent three-person appraisal.

They also matter in financial disclosure. When you complete a collection information statement, you list assets, and the revenue officer evaluates them against what is reachable. Knowing that your household goods and tools have a protected value, and that a modest car may fall inside the cap, helps you present the numbers accurately. The firm's main site has a broader guide on what to do when you owe the IRS.

The list is short. Read it closely anyway. In a seizure case, the difference between exempt and reachable is often the difference between a seizure that makes economic sense for the IRS and one that does not.