Don’t spend your refund before it’s actually in your account.
Even if your return shows Uncle Sam owes you money, you might not actually get it. Under certain circumstances, the government can seize part or all of your refund to put toward certain unpaid debts. During 2016, the Treasury Offset Program made more than 8.5 million such “offsets,” to the tune of $6.65 billion — more than double what it collected a decade earlier.
(Those figures from the Treasury Department include money pulled from federal and state tax refunds, as well as sources including Social Security checks.)
So far this year, the IRS has paid out refunds to more than 80 million taxpayers, averaging $2,851 apiece, according to filing data. Among direct-deposit recipients, the average refund is $3,009.
These six delinquent debts could impact the size of your tax refund: