Tax Year Prior to 2020: If I owe the irs money will they take my state return also?

[PandoraS]

No.  Federal income taxes and State income taxes are totally separate.  State income taxes owed cannot be paid with a federal tax refund.  And Federal income taxes owed cannot be paid by a State income tax refund.

And Federal income taxes owed cannot be paid by a State income tax refund.

[rscottburt-]

This is total bad information. I owed Federal Taxes and the IRS took my state return. This answer is a false hope.

[jaylyn821922]

This is incorrect info. The IRS took my state refund this year. This is what it shows on NYS refund status website "Our records indicate your refund has been applied to one or more outstanding liabilities. If both your federal and state refunds were offset, it may take up to 60 days to receive a refund of any overpayment.Our records indicate your refund has been applied to an outstanding Internal Revenue Service liability. For further information on this liability call the IRS at ....." So you are giving incorrect info. You might want to recheck where you are getting this info from. This is directly from the IRS's website <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/federal-and-state-levy-programs">https...>

[jaylyn821922]

This is incorrect info. The IRS took my state refund this year. This is what it shows on NYS refund status website "Our records indicate your refund has been applied to one or more outstanding liabilities. If both your federal and state refunds were offset, it may take up to 60 days to receive a refund of any overpayment.Our records indicate your refund has been applied to an outstanding Internal Revenue Service liability. For further information on this liability call the IRS at ....." So you are giving incorrect info. You might want to recheck where you are getting this info from. This is directly from the IRS's website <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/federal-and-state-levy-programs">https...>

[asheldon3835]

I hear you talking with confidence and authority, but you are wrong. When you owe federal taxes and are getting a state refund, and both returns are filed at the same time, the feds WILL apply your state refund to your federal bill.

[mrjeffwilson]

FALSE! I owed the IRS, They took money from my FED refund to cover it AND the CA STATE sent them the money too out on my state refund. Now I am fighting to get the difference back! I paid the bill twice!

[josiegirl2015]

Yes, I thought the same thing, but after calling the IRS they can and did take my state refund as well.

[djtrench1011]

Totally false. I owed 2300 to federal for an audit 2 years ago. My MA state refund was just taken to offset federal debt. They did it last year too and I’m audited again.

[mzninnie37]

The IRS took the state I was owed from my federal.  So that's a lie...it was just recently taken from my account.  I paid state 2 times.  Hoe can I get my money back

[kagamihaven]

The information is not incorrect, just not worded correctly. TurboTax cannot apply your refund to the other entity. The IRS, however, can offset for this amount.

[SweetieJean]

@kagamihaven  You are correct. It is worded badly.  Also, TT shows you the net effect of Federal and state for the same tax year, and users sometimes misread those numbers.

[catnpupmom]

This isn't correct. From our 2019 return the IRS applied a chunk to a state debt. The state of Ohio also applied a chunk of that refund to a federal debt. The problem is, both debts were satisfied with the 2019 filing, so neither should have occurred. Now I have to try to recoup from both agencies, and I'm sure it will take months. 

[catnpupmom]

Same here, except state and federal both took money for the other for a debt that was already satisfied. I'm livid. I hope things worked out for you.

[Lbuggg]

Not true, IRS can & will take state refund