Federal Offset Program

The Federal Offset Program assists States with the collection of delinquent child support debts by enforcing four remedies:

• Federal Income Tax Refund Offset
• Administrative Offset
• Passport Denial Program
• Multistate Financial institution Data Match (MSFIDM)

Federal Income Tax Refund Offset

Congress enacted the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program to recover delinquent child support debts. This remedy involves the interaction of all State IV-D agencies and three Federal agencies - OCSE, FMS, and IRS.

Policy and Technical Operations Information

• Action Transmittal 99-14 (AT-99-14)
  provides policy information and citations to the law.
• Federal Offset Program User Guide
  provides detailed information on procedures for submittal to the Federal Offset System, including timeframes, technical information and record specifications.
• PY 2004 Federal Offset Collections Schedule (also available in PDF)
  This schedule provides important dates for collections processing for the current processing year (PY).

Related Resources

• Treasury Offset Program Call Center: 1-800-304-3107
• Internal Revenue Service: 1-800-829-1040
• Financial Management Services (FMS) Program Information