What is a federal tax refund offset adjustment?
A federal tax refund offset adjustment is when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) previously sent an obligor’s federal tax refund to Ohio to apply to the obligor’s support arrears and now the IRS is asking to have that money returned to their agency. A federal tax refund offset adjustment can occur for many different reasons, but the most common reason is the obligor filed a joint return and the joint filer filed a claim with the IRS to receive his/her share of the federal tax refund. If the obligor filed a joint federal tax return, the joint filer may file an Injured Spouse Claim with the IRS to receive his/her share of the joint federal tax refund. If the IRS determines that all or part of the refund does belong to the joint filer, the IRS will immediately issue the joint filer his/her share of the refund, even if the entire refund has already been offset and applied to the obligor’s arrears. The IRS will then collect that same amount back from the State of Ohio. If there is a federa
