Can my EIP2 or EIP3 Payment be garnished from my bank account?

It depends.

For EIP2 payments, (the second round of EIPs), if your EIP payment was directly deposited into your bank account by the Treasury Department, then your bank may have been required to automatically protect those EIP funds from garnishment for 60 days from the date of the deposit. There were some exceptions, including for certain garnishment orders issued by a federal agency. If your EIP2 payment was deposited into your bank account by other means, then the protection was not automatic. EIP2 funds may have been eligible for protection for 60 days from the date of the deposit, but you were required to first contact your bank and request that EIP funds be protected.

For EIP3 payments (the third round of EIPs), which began disbursement on March 17, your bank generally is not required to automatically protect those EIP funds. There are only limited exceptions, like certain garnishment orders issued by a federal agency.

If you receive notice of a garnishment order, review a copy of the garnishment order because it may contain instructions or other information about how to protect funds from garnishment. If you did not get a notice about the garnishment of your account, ask your bank for a copy of the garnishment order that it received. You can also contact the creditor or the court that issued the order.

For more information on bank account garnishment, review the garnishment information under the debt management topic on our Help With My Bank website.

Last Reviewed: April 2021