Direct Answer
This Treasury Offset Program calculator estimates how much of your 2025 or 2026 federal tax refund will be withheld for past-due government debts, and how much remains. Your federal refund can be offset only for government debts: the IRS first applies the refund to past-due federal income taxes under IRC §6402, then the Bureau of Fiscal Service applies any remaining refund to child support, federal non-tax debt (including defaulted student loans), state income taxes, and unemployment compensation overpayments. Private creditors cannot intercept a federal refund. Call 800-304-3107 to check your current TOP balance before filing.
Key Takeaways
- Only government debts can offset a federal tax refund. Credit card debt, medical bills, and private loans are not eligible.
- Federal income taxes are offset by the IRS before the refund reaches the Treasury Offset Program.
- TOP priority order: child support first, then federal non-tax debt, then state income taxes, then unemployment overpayments.
- Student loans must be in default (270+ days past due) before the servicer can submit the debt to TOP.
- Married Filing Jointly filers can protect the non-liable spouse’s share by filing Form 8379 (Injured Spouse).
- Call 800-304-3107 before filing to check whether any debts have been submitted to TOP.
What Can Offset Your Federal Tax Refund
Federal law limits tax refund offsets to government debts. The IRS and the Bureau of Fiscal Service (BFS) apply debts in a fixed statutory order. Private creditors have no access to the federal offset system.
| # | Debt Type | Who Certifies the Debt | Legal Authority |
|---|
| 1 |
Past-due federal income taxes |
IRS (applied directly, before TOP) |
IRC §6402(a) |
| 2 |
Child support arrears |
State child support agency (mandatory TOP participation) |
42 U.S.C. §664; 31 U.S.C. §3720A |
| 3 |
Federal non-tax debts — defaulted student loans, SBA loans, USDA farm debt, other federal agency debt |
Federal agencies (Education, SBA, USDA, etc.) |
31 U.S.C. §3716 |
| 4 |
State income taxes |
State tax agencies that participate in TOP |
31 U.S.C. §3716 |
| 5 |
Unemployment compensation overpayments |
State workforce agencies |
31 U.S.C. §3716 |
Within each priority level, the full debt is satisfied before any remaining refund moves to the next category. If the refund runs out at any step, lower-priority debts receive nothing from this refund — but the balances carry forward and may offset future refunds.
How to Check If Your Refund Will Be Offset
Call the TOP Hotline Before Filing
The Treasury Offset Program hotline is 800-304-3107. The automated system runs 24 hours a day. It tells you whether a debt has been submitted to BFS under your Social Security number. Call before you file or at least two weeks before your expected refund date.
Check Your IRS Online Account
Log in to your IRS Online Account at IRS.gov to see any known federal income tax balances. If you owe prior-year taxes, the IRS will apply your refund to those balances before issuing any payment. The IRS online account shows your current balance due by year.
Watch for BFS Offset Notices
If your refund is offset, BFS mails an offset notice to your last known address. The notice names the agency that received the funds, the amount taken, and a contact number. Keep your address current with the IRS using Form 8822 to ensure the notice reaches you.
What the TOP Hotline Cannot Tell You
The hotline only shows debts that have been certified and submitted to BFS. A state tax debt submitted two days before your refund is issued may not yet appear. New submissions can take time to process. A clean TOP check before filing does not guarantee a clean refund if a debt is submitted between your filing date and your refund date.
Injured Spouse Relief: Form 8379
What Is an Injured Spouse?
An injured spouse is a joint filer whose share of a refund was offset for a debt that belongs only to the other spouse. If your spouse owes back child support, a defaulted student loan, or other qualifying government debt, BFS can take the entire joint refund to satisfy that debt, including the portion that represents your income, withholding, and credits.
How to Claim Injured Spouse Relief
File Form 8379 (Injured Spouse Allocation) to claim your proportionate share of the joint refund. You can file Form 8379 attached to your joint return (write “INJURED SPOUSE” in red on the top left of Form 1040) or separately after the offset notice arrives. Filing it with the original return is faster.
The IRS allocates the refund between spouses based on each spouse’s income, withholding, and applicable credits. The injured spouse receives back only their proportionate share, not the full refund.
Injured Spouse vs. Innocent Spouse
These are two different forms. Form 8379 (Injured Spouse) applies when the joint refund is offset for a debt that belongs only to one spouse. Form 8857 (Request for Innocent Spouse Relief) applies when you want relief from a tax liability created by your spouse’s errors or omissions on a joint return. Most refund offset situations involve Form 8379, not Form 8857.
Community Property States
Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin are community property states. In these states, the calculation of the injured spouse’s share follows state property law, which can affect how income earned during the marriage is allocated. Form 8379 instructions include a special community property worksheet. Consider consulting a tax professional if you file in a community property state.
How This Calculator Works
The calculator applies your entered debts against your expected refund in the statutory priority order described above. Each debt category is fully satisfied before any remaining balance moves to the next category.
Step 1: Federal Income Tax Debt
Past-due federal income taxes are subtracted first. This step models the IRS’s own offset authority under IRC §6402(a), which allows the IRS to apply any overpayment to outstanding federal tax liabilities before issuing the balance as a refund.
Step 2: Child Support Arrears
Child support is the highest TOP priority. States are required to submit past-due child support to TOP; participation is mandatory. BFS applies child support after federal income taxes and before all other debts.
Step 3: Federal Non-Tax Debt
This includes defaulted federal student loans, SBA loans, USDA farm debt, and other amounts owed to federal agencies. A student loan must be in default (generally 270 or more days since the first missed payment) before the servicer can submit the balance to TOP. Loans in active repayment, deferment, or forbearance are not submitted.
Step 4: State Income Taxes
States that participate in TOP submit past-due state income tax debts after federal debts are satisfied. Not all states participate, and participation rules vary. If your state participates and you owe state income taxes, the offset applies to any remaining federal refund at this stage.
Step 5: Unemployment Compensation Overpayments
State workforce agencies can submit unemployment benefit overpayments to TOP. These are applied last, after all other qualified debts.
Important Limitation: This calculator uses the debt amounts you enter. Actual certified balances in the TOP system may differ. The calculator cannot access your real-time TOP record. Call 800-304-3107 to verify your actual TOP balances before relying on this estimate.
Real-World Example
Jennifer and Marcus file jointly. Their expected 2025 refund is $3,800. Marcus has $2,900 in past-due child support from before their marriage. Jennifer has no personal debts in the TOP system. Their only other debt is a $600 unemployment overpayment from a state agency.
Joint Return — Child Support Offset + Unemployment Overpayment
Expected federal refund$3,800
Past-due federal income taxes (Priority 1)$0
Child support arrears — Marcus only (Priority 2)−$2,900 offset
Remaining after child support$900
Federal non-tax debt (Priority 3)$0
State income tax debt (Priority 4)$0
Unemployment overpayment (Priority 5)−$600 offset
Remaining refund$200
Jennifer files Form 8379 (Injured Spouse Allocation) attached to their joint return. Because the child support debt belongs only to Marcus, the IRS calculates Jennifer’s proportionate share of the refund based on her income, withholding, and credits relative to Marcus’s. If Jennifer earned 60% of the household income and had 60% of the withholding, she may recover approximately $1,740 of the child support offset. The unemployment overpayment is a joint obligation, so that portion is not recoverable via Form 8379.
Jennifer’s injured spouse claim takes up to 11 weeks if filed with the original return, or up to 14 weeks if filed separately after the offset notice arrives.
Practitioner Insight
LMN Tax Inc. — Client Pattern
The most common surprise we see: a client calls in March or April saying their refund was taken and they have no idea why. In most cases it is child support from a prior relationship or a defaulted student loan they had forgotten about. The TOP system does not notify you before the offset. It notifies you after.
The second most common surprise: a joint filer does not know that their spouse’s debt can take the entire joint refund, including the portion from their own income and withholding. Form 8379 exists specifically for this situation. We routinely file it for clients who did not know it was an option.
Private creditors generate many calls. Clients assume a collection agency can intercept a refund. They cannot. The federal offset system is closed to private parties. That distinction matters because it means paying down private debt does not protect a refund. Only resolving the underlying government debt does.
One practical tip: call 800-304-3107 in February before filing. If you see a TOP hold, you have time to contact the creditor agency and potentially clear the debt or set up a payment arrangement before your return is processed.
When This Estimate May Not Apply
- You do not know your exact debt balances: The calculator uses the amounts you enter. If you are uncertain of your exact certified balance in the TOP system, the estimate will differ from the actual offset. Call 800-304-3107 to verify before relying on this tool.
- Your student loan was recently rehabilitated or consolidated: A rehabilitated or consolidated federal student loan is removed from default status. The servicer should release the TOP hold within 65 days of rehabilitation completion. If you rehabilitated recently, your loan may still show as active in the TOP system during the transition period.
- Your debt balance changed after TOP submission: Interest and penalties may have increased your debt balance between the time it was certified to BFS and your filing date. The TOP system uses the balance at the time of certification, not necessarily the current outstanding balance.
- Community property state filers: The injured spouse calculation uses different allocation rules in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. This calculator does not model community property law. Consult a tax professional for an accurate injured spouse estimate in these states.
- Multiple offsets from the same priority level: If you have both a defaulted student loan and an SBA loan, both are Priority 3 debts. BFS applies them in the order the agencies submitted them. The calculator treats your total Priority 3 input as a single amount and does not model submission sequencing.
- State did not participate in TOP at time of offset: Not all states submit income tax debts or unemployment overpayments to TOP. If your state does not participate, no state-level offset occurs regardless of what you owe the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my tax refund be taken for debt?
Your federal tax refund can be taken only for government debts. Qualifying debts include: past-due federal income taxes, child support arrears, defaulted federal student loans, other federal agency debts (SBA, USDA), state income taxes, and unemployment compensation overpayments. Private creditors such as credit card companies, hospitals, and collection agencies cannot intercept a federal refund through the Treasury Offset Program. Call 800-304-3107 to check whether any debts have been certified to BFS before you file.
What is the priority order for refund offsets?
The IRS first applies your refund to any past-due federal income taxes under IRC §6402. Whatever remains then goes to BFS for the Treasury Offset Program. BFS applies debts in this order: (1) child support arrears, (2) federal non-tax debts including defaulted student loans, (3) state income taxes, (4) unemployment compensation overpayments. Each category is fully paid before the next receives anything.
Can my spouse’s debt take my entire joint refund?
Yes. When you file jointly, the entire refund can be offset for a debt that belongs only to your spouse. To recover your share, file Form 8379 (Injured Spouse Allocation). The IRS will calculate how much of the joint refund represents your income, withholding, and credits and return that portion to you. Filing Form 8379 with the original return speeds up processing. If filed separately after the offset, allow up to 14 weeks.
How do I check if my refund will be offset?
Call the TOP hotline at 800-304-3107. The automated system runs 24 hours a day and will tell you whether a debt has been submitted under your Social Security number. For federal income tax balances specifically, check your IRS Online Account at IRS.gov. Call a few weeks before your expected refund date for the most current information.
When will my student loan debt trigger an offset?
A federal student loan must be in default before the servicer can submit it to the Treasury Offset Program. Default generally occurs after 270 or more days since the first missed payment. Loans in active repayment, deferment, forbearance, or rehabilitation are not submitted. If you believe your loan is incorrectly shown as in default, contact your servicer and the Department of Education. Rehabilitation or consolidation out of default removes the TOP hold, typically within 65 days of completion.
Can I stop a refund offset after it happens?
Once BFS applies an offset, reversing it requires resolving the underlying debt dispute with the creditor agency. The IRS is not the agency to contact for a TOP offset unless the debt was federal income taxes. Contact the agency named on the BFS offset notice. If you believe the offset was applied in error, you have the right to dispute the debt directly with that agency. For child support offsets, contact your state’s child support enforcement office. For student loan offsets, contact your loan servicer or the Department of Education.
What is the difference between injured spouse and innocent spouse?
Injured spouse (Form 8379) applies when your joint refund is being offset for a debt that belongs only to your spouse. You are not disputing the debt itself; you are claiming your proportionate share of the refund that your income and withholding generated. Innocent spouse (Form 8857) applies when you want relief from a tax liability that resulted from your spouse’s errors or fraud on a joint return. Most refund offset situations use Form 8379. Form 8857 is for tax liability disputes, not refund offset recovery.
Do state debts always offset the federal refund?
No. State debts offset a federal refund only if the state participates in the Treasury Offset Program. Participation is voluntary for state income tax debts and unemployment overpayments. Most states with an income tax do participate in TOP for state income taxes. If you are unsure whether your state participates, contact your state tax agency or call 800-304-3107 and inquire about the TOP participation status of your state.
What To Do Next
Next Steps
Use the calculator above to estimate your offset exposure. Then call 800-304-3107 to verify your actual certified balances in the Treasury Offset Program. If your refund was already offset and you are a joint filer, determine whether the debt belongs only to your spouse. If so, file Form 8379 with your return or separately after the offset notice arrives.
To understand the full refund timeline before and after offsets, use the Refund Date Estimator. For the complete background on why refunds are sometimes delayed or reduced, see the Tax Refund Offset Guide, which covers the TOP process, dispute options, and injured spouse rules in detail. If you owe a remaining federal tax balance after the offset and need time to pay, the IRS Payment Plan Calculator estimates your monthly installment payment, setup fee, and total interest cost for short-term and long-term plans.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Estimated offset amounts depend on debt balances you enter; actual certified TOP balances may differ. Injured spouse recovery amounts depend on the allocation of income, withholding, and credits between spouses and are not modeled here. Call 800-304-3107 to verify your actual TOP record. Consult a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your situation.