The Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) issues tax refunds. They
are also authorized by Congress to reduce your refund if you owe any of the
following:
- Past-due child support;
- Federal agency non-tax debts;
- State income tax obligations; or
- Certain unemployment compensation debts
owed to a state (Generally, these are debts for (1) compensation paid due
to fraud, or (2) contributions owing to a state fund that were not paid).
You'll get an explanatory
letter from the BFS if your refund is offset for any of these debts. The
remainder of your refund will be processed as usual; an offset shouldn't delay
it, unless of course your entire refund was applied to your debt.
To
determine whether an offset has occurred on a debt owed, contact BFS's
TOP call center at 800-304-3107 or TDD 866-297-0517, Monday through Friday 7:30
a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.
More
info about refund offsets, including contact info and the appeals process, is
on IRS.gov (Tax Topic 203).
To find out about a debt
that reduced your state refund (if applicable), you will need to
contact your State Department of Revenue.
