To find out who took your tax refund, check the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool or your IRS online account to confirm if it was reduced due to an offset. The IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) will send notices to your last known address explaining if your refund was used to pay federal taxes, state income tax, child support, or other federal non-tax debts.
If you need more information on the offset, contact the Bureau of the Fiscal Service at 800-304-3107 (or TTY/TDD 866-297-0517) to find out where Treasury applied your tax refund.
For federal tax offsets, you will receive a notice from the IRS. For all other offsets, you will receive a notice from BFS. To find out if you may have an offset or if you have any questions about it, contact the agency to which you owe the debt. See Tax Topic 203 for more information about refund offsets.
The most convenient way to check on a tax refund is by using the Where's My Refund? tool on IRS.gov. Taxpayers can start checking their refund status within 24 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of the taxpayer's e-filed return.
BFS will send you a notice if an offset occurs. The notice will reflect the original refund amount, your offset amount, the agency receiving the payment, and the address and telephone number of the agency. BFS will notify the IRS of the amount taken from your refund once your refund date has passed.
If you never received your tax refund
To replace a lost or stolen tax refund check, you can request a refund trace in the IRS Where's My Refund tool. You will need to enter your Social Security number, filing status, and the exact whole dollar amount of your refund.
IRS procedures prior to garnishment
Once the IRS assesses your tax, you will generally receive notice and a Demand for Payment of the amount due. If you fail to pay this invoice, at some point after you will receive a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and a Notice of Your Right to a Hearing.
Yes, the IRS will automatically apply your refund to what you owe, even if you have a payment plan, through a process called a "refund offset," and they are often required by law to do so for back taxes and other debts like child support or other federal/state obligations. However, this isn't true for taking money directly from your bank account for unpaid bills (levies), as they must follow proper procedures first.
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury, administers TOP. We partner with TOP to offset federal payments and tax refunds in order to collect delinquent state income tax obligations.
How to Prevent Tax-Related Identity Fraud
Tracking the status of a tax refund is easy with the Where's My Refund? tool. It's available anytime on IRS.gov or through the IRS2Go App.
Request a refund trace from the IRS for missing refund checks. Complete IRS Form 3911 if you are married and filing jointly. Otherwise, contact the IRS Refund Hotline (800-829-1954) or use the Where's My Refund? portal.
To check if your federal payment (like a tax refund, Social Security, or federal salary) has been offset for a debt, call the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) at 1-800-304-3107, or contact the agency that handles your payment (like the IRS or SSA) if you got a notice, as they can tell you if your refund was reduced for debt collection, says the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and IRS.
Garnishing your refund
If you're expecting a tax refund but have concerns about creditors garnishing it, you may be worrying too much. Federal law allows only state and federal government agencies (not individual or private creditors) to take your refund as payment toward a debt.
Negotiating an Offer in Compromise (OIC) with the tax authorities can be a successful strategy for stopping tax refund garnishment. An agreement between the taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to settle the tax liability for less than the entire amount owed is known as an offer in compromise.
To find out if your taxes will be offset (reduced due to a debt), use the IRS "Where's My Refund?" tool on their website and look for messages about offsets; otherwise, expect a notice from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) or the specific agency if your federal refund is reduced for back taxes, child support, or other federal/state debts, as they will send a letter explaining the offset.
One-time forgiveness, officially known as First-Time Penalty Abatement (FTA), is an IRS program that allows qualified taxpayers to have certain penalties removed from their tax accounts.
The IRS "10k rule" primarily refers to the requirement for businesses and financial institutions to report cash transactions over $10,000 by filing Form 8300 (for businesses) or a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) (for banks), under the Bank Secrecy Act. This rule helps combat money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing, requiring reporting for single transactions or related transactions totaling over $10,000 in cash within a year, with penalties for non-compliance.
The "20k rule" refers to the traditional IRS threshold for reporting income from payment apps and online marketplaces on Form 1099-K: over $20,000 in gross payments AND more than 200 transactions in a calendar year. While a law (the American Rescue Plan) temporarily lowered the threshold to $600, recent legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) (OBBBA), has reinstated the $20,000/200-transaction rule for tax years starting in 2025, providing relief for casual sellers and gig workers.
If you don't get a notice, you'll need to call:
You may get a letter or notice from the IRS saying there's a problem with your tax return or your refund will be delayed. There are many reasons why the IRS may be holding your refund.
Yes, employees can access information about any garnishments withheld from their earnings under the “deductions” or “other deductions” section of their pay stub.