FAQs: Federal economic impact payments and child support

Congress did exempt federal economic impact payments - also called federal stimulus payments - included in the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021 and the Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act signed by President Trump on Dec. 27, 2020 from going towards past-due child support.

However, Congress did not exempt the first economic impact payments from the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020 from going towards past-due child support.

The federal government handled economic impact payments from the CARES Act the same way it handles federal income tax refunds. This means the payments were subject to the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program that allows child support agencies to file claims against federal tax refunds to pay for past-due child support.

Below are answers to questions about how the first economic impact payments may have been impacted for parents who owe past-due child support.

Will the federal government send my economic impact payment to pay for past-due child support?
How do I know if my case meets the criteria for the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program?

Minnesota’s child support program sends a notice to your last known address when your child support case meets the criteria for a federal tax refund offset. If you do not remember receiving a notice, you can log in to Minnesota Child Support Online to view your case information.

You can also call the IRS Treasury Offset Program interactive voice response system at 1-800-304-3107 to see if the child support program referred your child support debt for collection through the program.
How will I know if the federal government sent my payment for past-due support?
What if I am married and the federal government sent my spouse’s portion of the economic impact payment for past-due child support?

If the federal government determined your economic impact payment was based on your joint tax return and your spouse does not owe child support, your spouse can file an injured spouse form with the IRS. If your spouse has filed an injured spouse form for the tax year the federal government used to determine your economic impact payment, your spouse does not need to file it again. Information is available on the IRS website at https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8379.
Will the custodial parent on my case receive my economic impact payment?

Maybe. Federal law requires that payments from the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program apply to past support you owe to the state before the child support program can apply your payment to past due support you owe to the custodial parent on any of your child support cases.

The child support program will deduct a $25 IRS fee from economic impact payments it sends to custodial parents if the payment is $100 or more.
If I don’t owe any past-due support to the state, when will the custodial parent get my economic impact payment?

The federal government normally allows state child support programs to hold payments they receive from the Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program for up to six months. The hold helps the state programs make sure they send the appropriate payment amount to the custodial parent. The federal government recently extended this hold period to June 30, 2021, on payments from parents who filed joint tax returns because the Internal Revenue Service made errors issuing more than 200,000 economic impact payments for parents who filed joint tax returns.

To prevent potential negative impacts on parents, Minnesota's child support program is using this extended hold period on joint Federal Income Tax Refund Offset Program payments it received between May 6, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2020.

Extending the hold period minimizes the risk of parents who filed joint tax returns paying too much, which would require Minnesota to recover the overpayment from the custodial parent. Minnesota's child support program apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and wants you to know staff are processing payments as quickly as possible.

If you have questions regarding the details of your case or want to learn how this extension affects your case, please contact the Minnesota Child Support Division Help Desk at 651-431-4400.
Where can I find additional resources on this issue?
Please visit:
What if I still have questions?

Contact your county child support worker by telephone, mail or send a secure message using the Minnesota Child Support Online Messages webpage.

If you do not know how to contact your worker, contact the Minnesota Child Support Help Desk for your worker’s contact information at 651-431-4400. The help desk is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.