If you file a joint tax return with your spouse, and your spouse owes back child support, if you are due a refund it could be subject to an Offset. An offset occurs when you owe money because of certain delinquent debts, the IRS or the Department of Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS), which issues IRS tax refunds, can offset or reduce your federal tax refund or withhold the entire amount to satisfy the debt.
If you owe federal or state income taxes your refund will be offset to pay those taxes. If you had other debt such as child support or student loan debt that was submitted for offset, FMS will take as much of your refund as is needed to pay off the debt, and send it to the agency authorized to collect the debt. Any portion of your refund remaining after an offset will be refunded to you.
You can receive your portion of the refund if you file Form 8379 - Injured Spouse Allocation. You can either file it with the return, or you can file it later to recover your portion of the refund. For instructions on how to file Form 8379 in TurboTax see: How do I file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation?
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