(a) Subject to subdivision (b), an employer upon whom a withholding order for taxes is served shall withhold and pay over earnings of the employee pursuant to such order and shall cease to withhold earnings pursuant to any prior earnings withholding order except that a withholding order for support shall be given priority as provided in Section 706.030. When an employer is required to cease withholding earnings pursuant to an earlier earnings withholding order, the employer shall notify the levying officer who served the earlier earnings withholding order that a supervening withholding order for taxes is in effect.
§ 706.077.Duty of Employer to Withhold and Pay Over Earnings
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 5. Wage Garnishment · Article 4. Earnings Withholding Order for Taxes · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 706.077 requires an employer served with a withholding order for taxes to comply with it and stop withholding under any earlier earnings withholding order, except that a withholding order for support keeps its priority, and makes a second withholding order for taxes ineffective while an earlier one is still in effect.
Full Text of § 706.077
(b) An employer shall not withhold earnings of an employee pursuant to a withholding order for taxes if a prior withholding order for taxes is in effect, and, in such case, the subsequent withholding order for taxes is ineffective.
Plain-English Summary
A withholding order for taxes bumps an ordinary earnings withholding order out of the way. Subject to § 706.030's rule that support orders keep top priority, an employer served with a withholding order for taxes must comply with it and stop withholding under whatever earnings withholding order was already in effect — notifying the levying officer of that earlier order that a supervening tax order has taken over.
Subdivision (b) prevents a pile-up of competing tax orders: if a withholding order for taxes is already in effect, a subsequent one for the same employee is ineffective, and the employer doesn't act on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a state tax withholding order override an existing wage garnishment?
Yes, subject to a withholding order for support keeping its priority under § 706.030 — the employer stops withholding under the earlier earnings withholding order and complies with the tax order instead.
What if the state serves two withholding orders for taxes on the same employer?
The later one is ineffective while the earlier withholding order for taxes remains in effect.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: state tax withholding order priority california