Resources for State Agencies in TOP as Debtors
This page provides guidance to state agencies who owe debts being collected through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). States that have questions about how they can collect debts owed to them through TOP should visit “How TOP Collects Money for State Agencies”.
Collection of debts owed by states:
Federal agencies can collect debts owed by individuals and entities, including states and state agencies, through TOP. Examples of debts that states may owe to the federal government can include grant overpayments, loans, overpayments on projects, and debts owed to Medicare. When a debt is not paid on time, it generally becomes delinquent and must be referred to TOP. TOP will then intercept eligible federal payments and apply them to the delinquent debt, a process known as "centralized offset."
For general TOP questions, please visit:
For TOP questions specific to states, please visit:
- Resources for Treasury Offset Program Debtors ; and
- Frequently Asked Questions from States as Debtors .
Unitary Entity:
For TOP, all subdivisions or organizations sharing one taxpayer identification number (TIN) are responsible for all debts associated with that TIN. So if two state agencies in the same state are using the same TIN when interacting with the federal government, TOP will offset any eligible payment to one of those agencies to pay any eligible debt owed by one of those agencies to the federal government. This is true even in cases when it is difficult for one state agency to be aware of debts owed by another agency.
Government to Government program:
The Government to Government (G2G) program is a part of TOP that helps states by providing information, especially useful in instances where one part of the state has a payment that is intercepted for a debt owed by another part of the state. G2G can help notify a centralized point of contact in the state of any debts referred to TOP and any offsets taken to satisfy those debts. The information is sent to a designated contact in the state daily as debts are referred or as offsets are taken. That designated contact can work with the various subcomponents in the state.