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

[WKins2]

Yes, the IRS can take your state refund (Under the State Refund Levy Program), and apply it to any past due debts.

[Jax4848]

Well I know my federal was garnished for the exact amount of child support I owed in arrears and then I got a letter from New Jersey State Treasury with the same amount garnished for the same exact thing so they both took the same amount amount for arrears so one of them owes me that money back because I'm paid up as far as child support now that they garnished it

[AkinaLO]

Please contact your State Department of Revenue directly for an explanation. 

How do I contact my state Department of Revenue? - Community

[Kyarris12]

Well, let me just say tht not sure tht is true I found out last year I owe federal taxes (not sure why) they kept my federal and state last year... This year I filed both and have not received either one... Can you answer that for me? Please.. 

[CassLO]

The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) is administered by the United States Department of Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS). It allows federal and state government agencies to collect outstanding debts owed to them by garnishing, or offsetting, your debt with your tax refund.  Who Can Garnish an Income Tax Refund?

If the government or state made a correction to your tax return, resulting in a lower than anticipated refund, you'll get an official explanatory letter when this happens.

Please see the TurboTax FAQ below, for reasons your refund may have been less than expected: Why is my direct-deposited refund or check lower than the amount in TurboTax?

You can go to this link Topic No. 203 Reduced Refund there is a phone number you can call to see if there was a refund offset.

If this is putting you into financial hardship, please see this link:Taxpayer Advocate Service

[Jaysmoov]

That's not true they will take it

[Anonymous]

it works both ways. The IRS can take a state refund and the state can take a federal refund. 

[Critter-3]

The original answer is correct if the question was "can the federal refund pay the state balance due  or the reverse on a filed return " which is a big no.  Some folks think that a refund on one return will automatically pay the balance due of the other return for the same tax year and fail to pay the balance due then get notices that they did not pay and now owe penalties and interest.   However  once a return is  filed  then a state refund can be grabbed by the IRS to pay a prior year debt and vise versa. 

[redskin13808]

This is false...the IRS will levy your Stare refund.

[SForrestLO]

The IRS can garnish certain state debts. These Turbo Tax articles will provide more information on offsets.

IRS Tax Topic 203

Who Can Garnish an Income Tax Refund?

What is a refund offset?

Treasury Offset Program & Debt Management Services

[t2la21]

Even though this thread is old, people searching for a similar answer may come across it, see it, and be fed flat-out WRONG information. Why is this marked as the best info?? It's extremely incorrect. Why speak on something you do not know??

I have had the state take my federal refund last year and took a small portion of it this year to finish paying off what we owed in state taxes.  They absolutely can and will take it.

[DanielV01]

@t2la21  Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  "Accepted Solutions" are directly voted on by members of Our Community, and are not always able to be vetted for total accuracy.  You are correct that the IRS can and does levy a refund offset for the following situations:
 

• Past Federal Taxes Owed
• Past State Taxes Owed
• Delinquent Student Loans
• Delinquent Child Support

I have removed the "Accepted Solution" tag from this thread because the information (provided by a Community member and not a tax expert) was not accurate.  Thank you again for your contribution.

[jt3482]

I owed 681 in child support arrears, which the IRS offset. But the state of Georgia also offset 681 from my state refund. It's been over a month and nobody has record of it but the state, I've talked to child support, treasury offset people, bfs. And each one says to call the other. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

I believe if I took 681 from someone, I'd be in jail for THEFT 

[DaveF1006]

It depends. Here is an US Treasury link that may prove beneficial to you. Here is a State of Georgia link that may be helpful also.

@jt3482

[Gwen64]

If I owe the state will they take all my money I am already In hardship