Legal Authorities:
- IRS Intercepts – Ruling Authority: 45 CFR §303.72; 42 U.S.C §664 and 31 CFR §285.3. Okla. State Titles 10, 12 and 31, OKDHS Policy OAC 340:25-5-215 and OAC 340:25-5-225
- Administrative Debt Offsets – Ruling Authority: 31 U.S.C. §3716; 31 CFR §285.1; and Executive Order 130 19 (09/26/96), Okla. State Titles 10 and 56, OKDHS Policy 340:25-5-215.1
- Debt Check Offsets – Ruling Authority: 31 U.S.C. §3716; 31 CFR §285.1; and Executive Order 130 19 (09/26/96).
- Safeguarding Federal Tax Information (.pdf, 21 pp, 274 KB) IRS Publication 1075 and Publication 4761 Note: Not an enforcement remedy
Note — all injured spouse claims for federal income tax refund offsets are processed by the IRS. Child Support Services (CSS) is not involved in any way and cannot assist customers with the federal injured spouse process. If there is a customer inquiry regarding an injured spouse claim, please refer them to their tax preparer/advisor or the IRS website.
This is the expected process:
- District offices receive a written dispute to the offset of their federal income tax refund from a non-custodial person (NCP) or NCP’s attorney.
- District offices should email our Federal Tax Coordinator (James.Hastings@okdhs.org) as soon as they learn of a dispute—even if not yet in writing.
- District office gathers federal AND state income tax returns—including all attachments, such as 1099s, W-2 schedules. District offices also gather any documentation that the NCP can provide that substantiates the basis of their dispute—direct payments, informal agreements, etc. District office saves these documents to the STO W-drive folder “IRS Offset Disputes”. This is a different folder than where OTC offset dispute documents will be saved.
- The Center for Coordinated Programs (CCP) requests that the electronic file names of saved documents follow this format: AP number; NCP’s first and last name; brief description of the documents. Example:
“999999 John Johnson NCP Dispute”
All documents can be saved in one electronic file, or in multiple electronic files, so long as each electronic file follows this format. - Our Federal Tax Coordinator, or our CCP Attorney, may ask the district office for additional information, such as an Arrears Computation, or other information from the NCP regarding their claim. The Federal Tax Coordinator initiates the process for a hearing and order, as appropriate. CCP staff will communicate with the NCP regarding final resolution. Our Federal Tax Coordinator will make updates to show distribution to CPs in appropriate cases, using PNDR, CFN Notes, or other transactions.
If your office already has an NCP dispute to the offset of their federal income tax refunds, and that dispute has not progressed very far towards resolutions, do not hesitate to forward it to CCP. If, however, you have a dispute that is substantially resolved or set for hearing, consult with your Staff Attorneys whether to complete the resolution or to consult with CCP about possible transfer to CCP. If the matter is already set for hearing, it is usually more efficient for the issue to stay with the district office.
If, at any time, there are questions about offset of tax refunds, do not hesitate to contact any CCP staff helping with the tax offset processes (Tammy, Chris, Hannah, or Tony).