The Government Can Collect Many Delinquent Debts by Keeping Federal Tax Refunds as Offsets

Millions of fed. taxpayers receive billions of dollars in income tax refunds every year. Many of these refunds are paid to taxpayers who owe money to the fed. gov¿t. or to their state or local gov¿t. The law allows certain types of debts to be collected through offsets of fed. income tax refunds before payments are issued to taxpayers -- in calendar year 2008, over $5 billion was deducted from income tax refunds and used instead to pay other fed. agency non-tax debt, state income tax debt, and overdue child support payments. This report describes: (1) recent proposals to expand the refund offset program; and (2) challenges and design issues that would need to be addressed in the event of program expansion. Charts and tables.