Injured spouse claims

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Injured spouse claims. A noncustodial parent’s spouse typically does not have a duty to pay support for the noncustodial parent’s child from another relationship.[110] Thus, if the noncustodial parent and the spouse file a joint tax return, the portion of the tax refund attributable to the spouse is not subject to intercept. If an intercept includes an amount owed to the spouse, there is recourse. The nonobligated, or injured, spouse is allowed to request relief directly from the IRS.[111] The IRS requires submission of an Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation of a Joint Return form for the spouse to claim his or her portion of the offset refund. Money received through a tax refund intercept can be held for up to 6 months to see if an injured spouse will file a claim for a portion of the refund.



Distribution.[121] Collections received by a IV-D agency as a result of a Federal tax refund intercept, both for TANF and non-TANF cases, must be distributed as past-due support as required by 42 U.S.C. § 657. For individuals who have never received public assistance, the amount collected will be sent to them. In former assistance cases and in current TANF cases, some past-due child support payments are assigned to the State as a condition of receiving TANF. When the State receives intercepted Federal tax refunds, the refunds are retained to satisfy any support assigned to the State. After the debt to the State has been satisfied, the refund amount can be applied to any child support owed to the family.

Constitutionality. Federal tax refund intercept has been challenged in both State and Federal courts. Originally, noncustodial parents raised issues of denial of due process based on notice requirements and on an interpretation of the earned income tax credit portion of a Federal return.[122] As courts routinely upheld the validity of Federal tax refund interception, noncustodial parents have raised questions pertaining to the definition of the term “past due.” Courts have held that a supporting parent must fall behind in his or her ordered payments before having his or her Federal tax refund intercepted. The issue often arises in the context of a modification when the court orders that a modification take effect retroactively. Courts have found that, although the noncustodial parent was in arrears based on the entry of a modified order, he or she was not in arrears as the term “past due” was defined by 42 U.S.C. § 664.[123]