Federal Withholdings and Offsets

If an individual owes money to the federal government because of a delinquent debt, the Treasury Department can offset that individual's federal payment or withhold the entire amount to satisfy the debt. The debtor is notified in advance of any offset action to be taken. Individuals may call the TOP Interactive Voice Response (IVR) at 800-304-3107 to determine the contact information for the agency or state they owe.

Complete IRS Form 8379, which you can obtain by calling the IRS toll-free at 800-829-3676 or by downloading the form from the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf. For assistance with completing the form, call your local IRS office or the IRS toll-free number 800- 829-1040.

Call the IRS toll-free number 800-829-1040.

If your ex-spouse is a federal payment recipient, the TOP allows the state to offset certain types of federal payments in order to collect the delinquent child support owed. Contact your state or local child-support enforcement office to determine whether federal payments to your ex-spouse can be offset through TOP.

For additional information contact the Department of Health and Human Services Office Child-Support Enforcement at 202-401-9373.

Contact the federal or state agency collecting the debt, which is listed in the notice you received.

If you need information about whom to contact, call the Treasury Offset Program IVR toll-free at 800-304-3107.

If your debt has been paid in full, or if you do not owe a debt, the federal agency that authorized Fiscal Service to collect the debt is responsible for returning any part of your payment that should not have been taken from you.

Funds collected by the Treasury from your federal payment are sent to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal liaison office with the states on child-support enforcement. HHS disburses the funds to the states. To obtain information on the status of a support payment, you should request the state to contact HHS directly.