Does EDD take federal or state tax refunds for overpayment collections?

Yes they take BOTH!! happened to me last year. state AND fed. they dont care if you need the money they just TAKE IT. i had a $2700 overpayment and they snagged my entire fed refund of $1900 and $950 from my state. didnt even get a warning just opened my mail one day and got a letter saying they took it. so messed up.

my cousin had this happen and they only took his state refund not federal so maybe it depends on something?

EDD participates in both the Treasury Offset Program (for federal tax refunds) and the state's tax intercept program. Here's what typically happens: 1. For established overpayments, they can take both federal and state tax refunds 2. They must send you a notice before intercepting your refund 3. If the overpayment was due to fraud, they can take 100% of refunds 4. If it was non-fraud (honest mistake), they sometimes take only a portion You do have options though. You can request a payment plan by contacting EDD directly. Sometimes they'll agree to a reasonable monthly payment instead of taking your entire refund. Another option is to file for a hardship waiver if repayment would cause significant financial hardship.

I went through this last year and it was a nightmare trying to reach someone at EDD to set up a payment plan BEFORE they took my refunds. I called for weeks and kept getting "we're experiencing high call volume" messages. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a rep. They have this service that connects you with an EDD agent without the endless redials. Totally worth watching their demo video: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km Once I finally got through, I was able to set up a $100/month payment plan and they didn't take my tax refund. You really need to get this sorted BEFORE you file your taxes though.

wait i'm confused... is this the same as a disqualification or different? i got a letter saying i was disqualified for benefits for 5 weeks but nothing about overpayment

I filed an appeal for my overpayment and won! But it took like 4 months to get resolved. If you have any documentation showing you reported everything correctly, definitely appeal. If the overpayment wasn't your fault, they might waive it completely.

I set up monthly payments for my overpayment ($5,600) and they STILL took my federal refund last year!! When I called to complain they said it was because I missed 2 payments on my payment plan. The system is so messed up. Make sure you never miss a payment if you go that route.

One other important thing to know - if you're married and file jointly, your spouse's portion of the tax refund could also be taken unless they file a special form called an "Injured Spouse Allocation" (Form 8379 for federal). This protects your spouse's portion of the refund from your EDD debt.