Last year my entire tax refund was garnished for student loans. This year I have made payments. How do I know for sure, before filing, that they won’t garnish them again?

[quinky_dink]

They have told me that after five consecutive payments they will remove the garnishments. I am not filing until the fifth payment is made which is three days from now. I am just not sure that I can trust that they aren’t going to garnish it anyway. How can I be sure? I called the number given online to check for garnishments and none are attached to my social security number. Do you have to actually file before a garnishment will reflect in their system? Any thoughts?

[Rachel_W]

No, you don't have to actually file before a garnishment will reflect in their system.

For non-IRS debts, you can contact the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) directly at (800) 304-3107 to find out if there is a pending offset of your refund and for how much. In most cases, this service is pretty accurate, so if they don't report an offset on file for you, it is most likely correct.