Can SAVE Plan Student Loans Cause Tax Refund Offset? $0 Payment Plan Confusion

You need to check your loan status ASAP! The SAVE plan can protect you from offsets, but only if your loans are actually in good standing. Compare this to standard IDR plans where even $0 payments must be recertified annually or you default. Even with SAVE showing $0 due, if you missed recertification deadlines or had previous delinquency, offset risk remains. The Treasury Offset Program looks at your official default status, not just current payment amounts. Time is critical here - refund season is already underway and once an offset is initiated it's extremely difficult to reverse!

Have you checked studentaid.gov to verify your official loan status? According to the Department of Education's website, loans with a $0 payment under SAVE are considered in good standing as long as you've recertified on time. But I'd be cautious - sometimes the servicer's portal shows different information than what's in the National Student Loan Data System. The FSA website specifically states that loans in good standing shouldn't trigger a Treasury offset, but you might want to look at the Treasury's official offset information at fiscal.treasury.gov/top to be certain.

You need to check if you're actually in default. SAVE plan showing $0 isn't enough. Look at your official status. Default happens after 270 days of missed payments. Your servicer might show current. Treasury database might show different. Call your loan servicer directly. Ask specifically about default status.

Been through this exact nightmare. My servicer showed $0 due, but my refund still got taken because of an old default that never got properly updated in the system. Spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could actually help. After about 20 failed attempts calling the regular numbers, I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to an actual human at the Department of Education. They confirmed my loans were current and filed the paperwork to stop the offset. I know exactly how frustrating and scary this feels when you're counting on that refund. If you need to speak to someone directly, save yourself the headache of endless busy signals.

Have you received any notices about potential offsets? I was in a similar situation and found out my loans were technically in default even though I was making the required $0 payments. Did you recently switch to the SAVE plan? Were your loans ever in default before? Are you sure all your loans are included in the SAVE plan? I had one loan that wasn't included and almost got my refund taken because of it. Have you checked your credit report to see if any loans show as in default?

I went through something similar last year with my SAVE plan. My account showed $0 payments but they still took my refund. Turns out my loans had defaulted before I enrolled in SAVE, and even though I was current on my $0 payments, I hadn't completed the official rehabilitation process. I should have received a notice about the offset 65 days before filing taxes, but it went to an old address. I'm worried you might be in the same situation. Check if you've received any notices from Treasury, not just your loan servicer. The systems don't always talk to each other properly.