If the noncustodial parent has an IRS refund due, the IRS will withhold all or part of the refund to pay a past-due support debt. Only the state where you applied for services can ask the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to attach a tax refund.
DCS uses the following criteria for IRS refund tax offset:
- The noncustodial parent's correct Social Security number is on the case record.
- The past-due amount owed to you must be $500 or more.
- The amount must have accrued under a valid support order and DCS must have a copy on file.
If the children ever received public assistance, back support may be owed to the state. The amount owed to the state must equal $150 or more and be three months past due to qualify for tax-refund offset.
Despite recent record improvements in paternity establishment and child support collections, much more needs to be done to ensure that all children born out-of-wedlock have paternity established and that all non-custodial parents provide financial support for their children. Currently, only about one-half of the custodial parents due child support receive full payment. About twenty-five percent receive partial payment and twenty-five percent receive nothing.
In an effort to strengthen and improve state child support enforcement activities, several federal laws were passed, including a national new-hire reporting system. These laws required states to pass uniform interstate child support laws, automate enforcement actions, and provide for tougher noncompliance penalties, such as driver's license revocation.