If I owe the irs can they just take out the money from my tax return

[VolvoGirl]

Owe for a prior year?  Yes they will automatically take out anything you owe from any refunds you get.

[WillK · Accepted solution]

If you owe previous taxes from previous years and are have a refund this year, the IRS will more than likely take your refund and apply it to the past taxes (same for the state as well). If you owe federal taxes, but you are getting a state refund, unfortunately, the IRS will not take your state refund, you will need to pay the IRS. 

[cgarcia1021]

My state refund was less the amount I owed federal (from a previous year), so I know the federal takes it from state if you owe, (I also called the state) the lady told me that they paid my federal liability with my state refund and that is why I didn't get the amount back as I had thought was coming. Just FYI

[xmasbaby0]

Your state tax due cannot be paid from your federal refund.
It is not possible to pay your state tax due from your federal refund, nor is it possible to pay a federal tax due from a state refund.  The federal and state treasuries are completely separate from each other.  You may have seen a TurboTax summary of your federal and state amounts that confused you into thinking one was “paying” the other.  It is not.  If you have federal tax due you can pay by mailing your payment, having the payment taken out of a designated bank account, or you can pay directly on the IRS website.  You must pay your state tax due using the state’s preferred method of receiving payment.  For most states that will be by making a payment to the state’s own tax website, or by mailing a check or money order.
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[SweetieJean]

I think @cgarcia1021 is referring to a current state refund being offset for a past federal tax due.  Reread the first sentence of the comment.

[cgarcia1021]

Correct sweetiejean.. That is what I was trying to say my state refund or a part of it was withheld and it was because I owed federal from a previous tax year