441—98.84(252B) Offset against federal income tax refund and federal nontax payment. The department will make a claim against an obligor’s federal income tax refund or federal nontax payment when delinquent support is owed. For purposes of this offset, delinquent support shall include the entire balance of a judgment for accrued support, as provided in Iowa Code section 252B.5(4).
	98.84(1) Amount of assigned support. If the delinquent support is assigned to the department, the amount of delinquent support shall be at least $150, calculated by combining the assigned delinquent support in all of the obligor’s cases in which the assigned delinquent support is at least $50.
	98.84(2) Amount of nonassigned support. If delinquent support is not assigned to the department, the claim shall be made if the amount of delinquent support is at least $500, calculated by combining the nonassigned delinquent support in all of the obligor’s cases in which the nonassigned delinquent support is at least $50.
	a. 	The amount distributed to an obligee shall be the amount remaining following payment of a support delinquency assigned to the department. The department shall distribute to an obligee the amount collected from an offset according to subrule 98.84(9) within the following time frames:
	(1)	Within six months from the date the department applies an offset amount from a joint income tax refund to the child support account of the responsible person, or within 15 days of the date of resolution of an appeal under subrule 98.84(8), whichever is later, or
	(2)	Within 30 days from the date the department applies an offset amount from a single income tax refund to the child support account of the responsible person, or within 15 days of the date of resolution of an appeal under subrule 98.84(8), whichever is later.
	(3)	However, the department is not required to distribute until it has received the amount collected from an offset from the federal Department of the Treasury.
	b. 	Federal nontax payment offsets shall be applied as provided in rule 441—95.3(252B).
	98.84(3) Notification to federal agency. The department shall, by October 1 of each year or at times as permitted or specified by federal regulations, submit a notification(s) of liability for delinquent support to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.
	98.84(4) Preoffset notice and review. Each obligor who does not have an existing support debt on record with the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement will be sent a preoffset notice in writing, using address information provided to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, stating the amount of the delinquent support certified for offset.
	a. 	Individuals whose names were submitted for federal offset who wish to dispute the offset must notify the department in writing within the time period specified in the preoffset notice.
	b. 	Upon receipt of a complaint from the individual disputing the submission for offset, the child support recovery unit shall conduct a review to determine if there is a mistake of fact and respond to the individual in writing within ten days.
	98.84(5) Recalculation of delinquency. When the records of the department differ with those of the obligor for determining the amount of the delinquent support, the obligor may provide and the department will accept documents verifying modifications of the order, and records of payments made pursuant to state law, and will recalculate the delinquency.
	98.84(6) Notification of modification or elimination. The department shall notify the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, within time frames established by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, of any modification or elimination of an amount referred for offset.
	98.84(7) Failure to timely respond. When an individual does not respond to the preoffset notice within the specified time even though the department later agrees a certification error was made, the individual must wait for corrective action as specified in subrule 98.84(8).
	98.84(8) Offset notice, appeal, and refund. The federal Department of the Treasury will send notice that a federal income tax refund or federal nontax payment owed to the obligor has been intercepted. When the unit receives information from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement regarding the offset, or when the individual whose name was submitted for federal offset notifies the department that the individual has received an offset notice, the department shall issue to that individual Form 470-3684.
	a. 	The individual whose name was submitted for federal offset shall have 15 days from the date of the notice to contest the offset by initiating an administrative appeal pursuant to 441—Chapter 7. Except as specifically provided in this rule, administrative appeals will be governed by 441—Chapter 7. The issue on appeal shall be limited to a mistake of fact. Any other issue may be determined only by a court of competent jurisdiction.
	b. 	The department shall refund the incorrect portion of a federal income tax offset or federal nontax payment offset within 30 days following verification of the offset amount. Verification shall mean a listing from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement containing the obligor’s name and the amount of tax refund or nontax payment to which the obligor is entitled. The date the department receives the federal listing will be the beginning day of the 30-day period in which to make a refund.
	c. 	The department shall refund the amount incorrectly set off to the obligor unless the obligor agrees in writing to apply the refund of the incorrect offset to any other support obligation due.
	98.84(9) Application of offsets. Offsets of federal income tax refunds shall be applied to delinquent support only. The department shall first apply the amount collected from an offset to delinquent support assigned to the department under Iowa Code chapters 234 and 239B. The department shall then apply any amount remaining in equal proportions to delinquent support due individuals receiving nonassistance services.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 252B.3, 252B.4, and 252B.5.
[ARC 5417C, IAB 2/10/21, effective 4/1/21; ARC 6855C, IAB 2/8/23, effective 4/1/23]