How to Check Your Income Tax Offset Refund Amount

The Internal Revenue Service not only exists to collect taxes, but also to collect debts owed to other federal and state organizations. Taxpayers who owe federal or state debts, such as student loans or child support, may have their federal tax refunds offset to pay those debts. Fortunately, the process to determine whether or not your income tax will be offset, and for how much, is relatively simple.

Instructions

1. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to determine if there is a debt on your tax account. If the answer is yes, your account has been flagged by another federal or state agency to which you owe money. The money you owe will be deducted from any tax refund you are entitled to receive. Unfortunately, the IRS cannot determine how much of your refund will be offset until after the offset has occurred. Often, determining the amount of your offset or to whom the debt is owed after the offset occurs makes recovering the refund much more difficult. So if you wish to ascertain the offset amount before the offset occurs, you'll need to contact Financial Management Services.

2. Call Financial Management Services (FMS), an arm of the Department of Treasury, at 800-304-3107. FMS is responsible for collecting delinquent debts and forwarding them to the agency to which they are owed. In most cases, FMS will send a letter prior to the offset to notify you that your refund is in danger of being offset. The letter includes both the name and Social Security number of the taxpayer for which the refund is being offset, as well as the organization to which the offset is being forwarded and the amount of the offset. If you do not receive the letter, however, call FMS to inquire as to the status of your income tax.

3. Go to your local IRS walk-in office and speak to a representative in person. Customer Service Representatives in IRS walk-in offices have access to the same information as those at the call center and will be able to tell you if your refund will be offset or, if it has already been offset, the dollar amount of the offset.

Tips & Warnings

• If you filed a joint return and your refund was offset because your spouse owes a debt, complete IRS Form 8379 to recover your portion of the refund.

References

• Internal Revenue Service: Refund Offset
• Financial Management Service: Tax Refund Offset
• IRS: Tax Topic 203 - Failure to Pay Child Support, Federal Non–Tax Debts, State Income Tax Obligations and Unemployment Compensation Debts

Resources

• Internal Revenue Service: Form 8379