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Child support staff: IRS tax-intercept process failed for seven Dunn County cases
Summary
County child support staff told the committee that tax-intercept seizures did not occur for seven certified debts in Dunn County for tax year 2024; affected payees remain owed arrears and staff will refer callers to the appropriate agencies rather than proactively notify all payees.
Child support staff told the Dunn County Judicial and Law Committee that seven certified child-support debts in the county were not seized through the federal tax-intercept process for tax year 2024.
The child support representative said the agency was initially told to refer impacted payees to the IRS but was later informed by the IRS to direct individuals to the Bureau of Financial Institutions because the IRS division that certified the debt did not complete the seizure. “The debt is still owed, and the obligor payer received those funds themselves,” the child support staff member said. The staff member said families remain able to make voluntary payments by other methods.
Committee members asked about recourse for the affected people. The staff member said the county requested a run of records from the Bureau of Child Support in Madison to quantify the impact and identified seven impacted cases in Dunn County. Staff emphasized that, for privacy and legal reasons, the county is limited in the tax information it can disclose to payees. “The IRS is very, very strict about our disclosing people’s tax information,” the child support staff said, explaining the county could not always confirm for a payee whether a missed payment came from a tax intercept.
A committee member asked whether staff should proactively notify affected payees; the child support representative said staff considered drafting a letter to payees and payers explaining the situation but the office decided not to send mass letters and instead would respond to inquiries individually. “We just decided to let sleeping dogs lie. And if somebody reaches out, then we’ll deal with it,” the child support staff member said.
Staff described common collection tools available in other circumstances — one-time larger-sum collections through tax intercept, lien dockets on vehicles, or negotiation when a lien must be removed — and said those tools remain available to collect arrears independent of tax-intercept seizures.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the child support issue; staff said they will respond to affected individuals who contact the office.
