If you or your spouse lost out on the first stimulus payment due to child support debt, you won’t have to worry about your second payment being garnished. Unfortunately, you still might not see that money anytime soon. It all depends on how you filed your 2019 tax return.
[NOTE: Despite the IRS stating directly on their site here that your stimulus check will not be offset by past-due child support, we have received several reports of that happening. We suggest that if this happens to you that you contact your Congressperson and complain, loudly. Be sure to point them to the IRS website where it states that your stimulus payment will not be offset.]
No Garnishment for Second Stimulus
According to the IRS website, the stimulus payment is protected from garnishment for all debts, including specifically child support arrears. This is a relief for parents who lost their last stimulus payment to the child support collection office, the DA’s office, or directly to their ex.
Payments for Those Who Didn’t File Taxes
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The IRS provides several avenues for distributing funds to people who don’t file taxes. If you didn’t use the Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here tool or already receive services through Social Security Administration, Veteran Affairs, or Railroad Retirement Board, you can still get the stimulus by filing for the Recovery Rebate Credit on a 2020 tax return.
What if I don’t have to file taxes?
File a tax return anyway! You don’t need a job or income to file for tax credits.
Stimulus Checks Have Already Been Delivered
The IRS has claimed that all payments have been delivered at this time. You can check your payment status online here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment Unfortunately, there were several problems with the delivery that threatened to hold the payments up.
Stimulus Delivery Problems and How to Solve Them
Due to a mistake, the IRS sent roughly 13 million stimulus payments to the wrong accounts, resulting in a mass of rejected payments. There was a lot of confusion at first. People were blaming tax preparation services like H&R Block and TurboTax instead of the government, but they clarified the problem on their website.
At first, the IRS directed people to file for the credit on their taxes as soon as possible. However, individuals whose payments were sent to tax preparers by mistake may still receive them. Many TurboTax customers received their payments on Friday while H&R Block users have reported more inconsistencies. Customers who do not receive or do not receive all of their stimulus payments must file for the tax credit.
If the IRS system says you’ve received a paper check, it may be a month before you receive the funds. If the payment was mailed to the wrong address, the IRS will not be issuing new payments. You will have to file for the tax credit.
The Good News
While your stimulus payment may be late, the good news is that it will be intact, with no garnishments.
Please let us know if you have already received it, or if you are someone who has had their 2021 stimulus payment held up for some reason.
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Note: Some links on this site are partner links and earn us a small commission. But it's really tiny. Seriously. Like less than $7 a month.
I feel that if the absent parent owes more than $4,000 in back support, he/she should not receive a stimulus check of any form. It is sad that the present parent is held responsible for all duties alone while the absent parent continues to enjoy life and not supporting the needs of the child no matter how old they are. If you owe, pay it. Get a job no matter what kind it is. Just get a job and take care of your kids.
I feel same way My grand children I raised never received a dime from their mother except when money was given from government 600.00 she got I pray not this 1,400 she is drug addict and she should not get the money !!! All she had to pay was 150.00 a month for 2 children !!!
And how about when the hard-working non-custodial parent is injured at work and has to fight L&I for almost a decade before getting relief and surgery? Shall that person be punished indefinitely, with the debt piling up, and interest payments destroying their life FOREVER? Everything in this world is NOT cut and dry!
What about the minor child that gets their check garnished, and given to a parent that is not theirs. I thought checks were issued per SS#’s
mine was garnished anyways, the irs claiming that the second stimulus was protected from garnishment was a blatant lie.
I don’t know the specifics of your situation, but the IRS accidentally sent out notices saying they were garnishing payments when they weren’t. If you happen to fall in that group, you have to claim them when you file your taxes (or when you amend your taxes). More info: https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/02/second-stimulus-check-update-if-you-received-notice-that-your-payment-was-taken-for-a-debt-it-was-a-mistake-irs-says.html
Got a letter from the treasury department. Only amount i had coming back was the $600 second stimulus payment, which I had to file as the rebate credit; they took it to pay back child support anyways.
I owe over $3,000 in arrears but to the state, none of that money goes to my kids which I have sole custody of, if it was going to the parent for the kids sake that’d be different but during a world emergency and pandemic I think that’s sad the state takes that money when I pay what I’m ordered every week.
Minor son and I never received anything. Mother claimed I abandoned her and my son. Funny how Florida never investigates a woman’s claim. I have my son, always have. So her new family gets to spend it all leaving my son out of the picture. I have contacted my congress woman who is a believe her communist Kathy Castor who does not believe in equal rights. I have even been told by DCF if my son goes to visit his mother he will be removed from my care perminatly, and placed in foster care. Bay area services has told me it’s a conflict of interest so no lawyer will look at the case for less than $5000 up front. This new government is truly a communist regeme.