*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a personal finance story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
As the infamous April 15th deadline (which needs no introduction) inches closer and closer, most of us find ourselves thinking about all the things that Santa didn't bring us for Christmas. Then, we start compiling a new list, our tax return wish list.
Very few of us are thinking about an accusation of past due child support. I know it was the farthest thing from my mind. After all, I wasn't behind! I had proof of all of my payments. It was merely a false accusation after a heated argument with my ex. I'm sure the courts heard cases like this all the time.
I was assigned a court date, but it was still a few months off. I received a few notices stating that my tax returns could be intercepted. But, I didn't pay attention to any of them. After all, innocent until proven guilty, right?
My new spouse and I e-filed our joint return and mentally spent all of it before we even hit send! We imagined paying off our last credit card and taking a weekend vacation to the Bahamas. All that stood in our way was the 10-day wait for the money to be deposited. Or, so we thought.
Before the 10 days passed, we received a letter that our entire tax return had been intercepted to satisfy a lien for past due child support. I had not been to court yet. No one had proved that I even owed this debt. Was this legal? Could the IRS really do that?
After many failed attempts, I was finally able to get in touch with a real person that worked for the IRS. And, it turns out, the answer was yes, they can! I learned that in Georgia, the accusation stands until the accused can prove that they do not owe the past due amount. In the mean time, the IRS can intercept your federal income tax returns to satisfy the past due amounts.
If you are lucky enough to experience this trouble for yourself, don't feel down and out. Take note that you can appeal the interception. The IRS will hold your refund in an account for 90 days during this process. For me, my court date was within those 90 days and I was able to prove that I did not owe the past due amount. I received my refund thereafter.
There are no comments yet