Will my refund be used to pay other debts that I owe?

Under the law, State and Federal agencies refer the names of taxpayers to the U.S. Treasury Department who are behind in their child support payments, taxes, and student loans. Therefore, your tax refund may not be refunded to you if you are delinquent in child support payments, have a past due Federal debt, such as a government student loan, or owe state taxes.

The Department of Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS), which issues federal tax refunds, has been authorized by Congress to conduct the Treasury Offset Program. Through this program, your Federal tax refund may be reduced by FMS and offset to pay any past-due child support, Federal agency non-tax debts, and any state taxes you may owe. To find out if your tax refund may be offset, you can call 1-800-304-3107.

An offset will not occur until the IRS has verified your overpayment amount and either certifies the refund for payment by FMS or applies the overpayment as a credit to your estimated tax. As a result, the IRS cannot determine before certifying your refund or making the credit whether an offset will be made. If you owe past due child support, Federal agency non-tax debt, or state income tax obligations, you should directly contact the agency to whom you owe the debt to determine if your debt was submitted for tax refund offset. If your debt was submitted to FMS for offset, as much of your refund as is needed to pay off the debt will be taken by FMS and sent to the agency to whom you owe the debt. Any portion of your overpayment remaining after offset will be issued in a check, direct deposited, or credited to next year's estimated tax as you have requested on your tax return.

FMS will send you a notice if an offset occurs. The notice identifies your original refund amount, your offset amount, the agency receiving the payment, and the address and telephone number of the agency. The IRS will not be informed of the agency receiving the offset but will be advised by FMS the amount taken from your refund. You should contact the agency shown on the notice if you believe you do not owe the debt or you are disputing the amount taken from your refund. You should contact the IRS only if your original refund amount shown on the FMS offset notice differs from the refund amount shown on your tax return.

If you filed a joint return and you are the spouse who is not responsible for the debt, but you are entitled to a portion of the refund because you reported income, payments, or credits on the return, you may request your portion of the refund by filing an "Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation" form. Please contact us to find out more about an Injured Spouse Claim.

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