Will My Friend Get Her EIP/Stimulus If She Owes Child Support?
So my friend finally filed her taxes just to get the stimulus money (I think the current $1400 one?). The thing is, she owes back child support. Will they take the entire amount to cover the child support debt or does she still get some of it? She's really counting on that money for some bills. Anyone know how this works with the current stimulus payments?
9 comments
Write a comment...
Yuki Tanaka
The rules for offset (garnishment) of Economic Impact Payments have changed with each round of stimulus. For the current $1400 payment (third round/American Rescue Plan), these payments are NOT subject to offset for child support debt, unlike the first stimulus payment which was eligible for offset. Your friend should receive her full stimulus amount regardless of child support arrears, assuming she qualifies based on income limits.
0 coins
Write a comment...
Carmen Diaz
I went through this exact situation with my brother. The first $1200 payment got taken for child support, but he got the full $600 second payment and now the full $1400 third payment. The IRS changed the rules for the newer payments. As long as she qualifies based on income, they'll send the full amount.
0 coins
Write a comment...
Andre Laurent
Are you sure about this? My cousin had his tax refund taken for child support just last month. I thought all IRS payments could be garnished for child support?
0 coins
Yuki Tanaka
You're partially correct. Regular tax refunds are still subject to the Treasury Offset Program for child support debt. However, the stimulus payments (specifically the current third round of $1400) were specially protected from offset in the legislation. It's an important distinction - tax refunds can still be taken, but stimulus payments cannot.
0 coins
7d
Write a comment...
AstroAce
When I was trying to figure this out for myself, I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my tax transcript. It showed exactly how my stimulus was being processed and confirmed it wouldn't be offset for my back child support. Really helpful since the IRS website was super vague about my specific situation. It explained all those weird codes on my transcript too.
0 coins
Ethan Wilson
Thank you! I'll let her know about this. She's been so worried. Did the site help you figure out when you'd actually get the payment too?
0 coins
8d
Write a comment...
Zoe Kyriakidou
I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through to the IRS to ask this exact question last month. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally used Claimyr.com to get through and an agent confirmed that the current stimulus payment is protected from offset for child support. Saved me so much time and frustration! Here's their link: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c
0 coins
Jamal Brown
Did they charge you a lot for that service? I've been trying to reach the IRS for weeks about a different issue.
0 coins
6d
Write a comment...
Mei Zhang
Make sure your friend checks the IRS Get My Payment tool for the most up-to-date status on her stimulus. Even though it won't be offset for child support, there could be other processing delays.
0 coins
Write a comment...