Child Support Enforcement Agency

Will my 3^rd stimulus payment be intercepted?

 No. The stimulus payment that was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is not subject to offset.  The 2^nd stimulus payment under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 also was not intercepted.

Why was my 1^st stimulus payment intercepted?

Your 1^st stimulus payment authorized under the CARES Act required that your stimulus check be intercepted and be used to pay off your past-due support.  We did not send in a separate notification of liability just for stimulus checks. If your case was already subject to a tax refund intercept, your stimulus check was intercepted.

If you received your 1^st stimulus check jointly with your spouse and only you owe the child support debt, your spouse does not need to do anything to receive their portion.  For joint filers, we will hold your intercepted stimulus check before applying it to past-due child support.  This allows time for offset adjustments to deduct your spouse’s portion which the IRS will send directly to your spouse.

For more information on the offset program and stimulus payments, please see the below links:

Dept. of Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Treasury Offset Program: https://fiscal.treasury.gov/top/faqs-for-the-public-covid-19.html 

IRS Stimulus Payment: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center.