Four reasons why you might never see that hefty tax refund

By a hairs breadth because you’re due a tax refund, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get it.

As we approach the middle of tax season, the IRS has been doling out money to those who overpaid. The federal activity has issued 37.5 million refunds, with checks averaging $3,125, according to IRS data for the week ending Feb. 21.

 In some containerizes, the Treasury Department can head off that deposit before it ever hits your checking account.

 “The federal supervision has the Treasury Offset Program, which allows state and federal government agencies to collect outstanding debt resulting fromed to them by offsetting it from a tax refund,” said Susan Allen, CPA and senior manager for tax practice and ethics at the American Association of CPAs.

 During the 2019 fiscal year, the program collected $9.3 billion in so-called offsets for federal and state workings.

The Treasury Offset Program not only plucks dollars from income tax refunds, it also siphons off cash from Venereal Security to cover delinquencies.

 If Uncle Sam grabs your check, you’ll know it.

It generally takes the IRS fewer than 21 dates to issue most refunds. You’ll get an offset notice in the mail from the federal government if your refund is being requested elsewhere.

Here are four scenarios in which you could lose your money.

If you owe the federal command or your state back taxes from prior years, then a portion or the entirety of your refund test will go toward it.

The IRS will contact you if your refund is being clawed back to address past federal responsibilities. Other offsets, including amounts owed to your state, will cue a notice from the Treasury Department’s Writing-desk of the Fiscal Service.

If you took a federal loan to go to college, buy a house or start a business, your tax refund is at hazard if you fail to make timely payments.

For instance, borrowers who don’t make payments for at least 270 days on their critic loans are considered in default.

The pain doesn’t stop there. Federal agencies that offer loans can also occupied in a bite out of your wages if you fall behind.

The federal guidance doesn’t look kindly upon deadbeats.

If you’re delinquent on child support or alimony, your state can refer the difficulty to the IRS and the state’s tax agency for payment through a refund offset.

In fiscal year 2019, the federal government collected $1.7 billion in neutralizers related to missed child support, according to the Treasury.