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Debt Management

Debt Collection: Regulatory Authorities

  • Section 285.1 : Collection of past-due support by administrative offset
  • Section 285.2: Offset of tax refund payments to collect past-due, legally enforceable nontax debt
  • Section 285.3: Offset of tax refund payments to collect past-due support
  • Section 285.4: Offset of Federal benefit payments to collect past-due, legally enforceable nontax debt
  • Section 285.5: Centralized offset of Federal payments to collect nontax debts owed to the United States
  • Section 285.6: Administrative offset under reciprocal agreement with States
  • Section 285.7: Salary offset
  • Section 285.8: Offset of tax refund payments to collect certain debts owed to States

History of Rulemakings: Part 285, Subpart A
Date Type of Rulemaking Federal Register Citation Brief Description
06/25/1997 Interim rule 62 FR 34179 Offset of federal tax refund payments for federal nontax debts.
07/07/1997 Interim rule 62 FR 36205 Offset of federal nontax payments for child support debts.
04/28/1998 Interim rule 63 FR 23354 Offset of federal salary payments for federal nontax debts.
08/21/1998 Interim rule 63 FR 44986 Offset of federal benefit payments for federal nontax debts.
08/28/1998 Final Rule 63 FR 46145 Offset of federal nontax payments for child support debts.
12/30/1998 Final Rule 63 FR 72094 Offset of federal tax refund payments for child support debts.
12/20/1999 NPRM 64 FR 71233 Offset of federal tax refund payments for state income tax obligations.
12/20/1999 Interim rule 64 FR 71228 Offset of federal tax refund payments for state income tax obligations.
12/26/2002 Interim rule 67 FR 78936 Offset of federal nontax payments for federal nontax debts.
01/21/2005 Final rule 70 FR 3142 Offset of federal nontax payments for federal nontax debts.
01/26/2005 Final rule 70 FR 3616 Offset of federal tax refund payments for state income tax obligations.
05/3/2005 Final rule 70 FR 22797 Offset of federal salary payments for federal nontax debts.
01/11/2007 Interim rule 72 FR 1283 Offset of federal nontax payments to collect state debts and offset of state payments to collect federal nontax debts.
10/22/2007 Final rule 72 FR 59480 Offset of federal nontax payments for child support debts.
06/10/2009 Interim rule 74 FR 27432 Amends the rules regarding the offset of federal payments to provide priority to the collection of child support debts.
06/11/2009 NPRM 74 FR 27730 Proposes to authorize offset of tax refund payments irrespective of the amount of time the debt has been outstanding.
11/03/2009 Final rule 74 FR 56719 Offset of federal nontax payments to collect state debts and offset of state payments to collect federal nontax debts.
12/28/2009 Final rule 74 FR 68537 Authorizes offset of tax refund payments irrespective of the amount of time the debt has been outstanding.
01/06/2010 Correcting amendment 75 FR 745 Correcting amendment.
01/28/2011 Interim rule 76 FR 50710 Offset of federal tax refund payments for unemployment compensation debt.
10/02/2013 Final rule 78 FR 60697 Nomenclature changes.
09/17/2015 Final rule 80 FR 55751 Offset of federal tax refund payments for unemployment compensation debt.
12/30/2015 Interim rule 80 FR 81463 Limitation on time period during which Treasury may recover certain tax refund offset collections from states for child support debts.
01/12/2016 Final rule 81 FR 1318 Adjusts time period in which federal agencies must notify Treasury of debts for offset purposes from 180 days to 120 days delinquent.
03/02/2022 NPRM 87 FR 11660 Proposes to describe compliance with the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017.
08/16/2022 Final rule 87 FR 50248 Describes compliance with the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017.

The Federal Claims Collection Standards

OPM Regulations

Last modified 10/15/24