IRS and Child Support

Recession, Recession, Recession. Bail out, Bail out, Bail Out. So here is my thought for a "Bail Out" that would help the economy, single parents, children, etc! Every year, I battle with the fact that the NC can owe extreme amounts of child support, and still, has not once, gone to jail for it. Warrants were issued, but many states will not send out an officer to execute the warrant because of staffing cut backs. Of course, this takes a back seat to the many crimes being committed in this country.

In addition, there is no requirement, for someone who does not owe the IRS money, to be required to file their tax forms. Now this is where there is room for legislation. The current statistics in this country for outstanding child support are as follows:

• As of September 2006, 105 billion in arrears has accumulated nationwide since the child support program began in 1975. (Source: Administration for Children & Families Report, The Story Behind the Numbers - Understanding and Managing Child Support Debt, May 2008.)

• Most debtors owe small amounts of debt, but the bulk of child support debt is held by people who owe large amounts. About 65 percent of the national child support debt is held by the 20 percent of debtors who owe more than $20,000. (Source: Administration for Children & Families Report, The Story Behind the Numbers - Understanding and Managing Child Support Debt, May 2008.)

• In fiscal year 2007, the federal Child Support Enforcement Program had a caseload of 5.8 million. The program collected nearly $25 billion. (Source: Child Support Enforcement Program Fact Sheet 2008.)

• The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that because the collection of child support results from a court order and not a consumer transaction, it does not fall under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. (Source: Mabe v. GC Services, 32 F. 3d. 86.)

• Only 46 percent of custodial parents receive the full amount of child support they are due. (Source: Census Bureau, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and their Child Support: 2005," released August 2007.)

Considering the above statistics, it is easy to see that we are not even making a dent in the collection of outstanding child support.

I am almost appalled by the fact that we are discussing so many issues in regard to the economy and how it is affecting many families, and one easy solution is to make sure that those of us that are owed outstanding child support. Every person who is owed child support in this country is entitled to have the IRS garnish any tax refund that is owed to a custodial parent. This money can only be garnished, if an individual files a return. Year after year, many Non-Custodial (NC) parent do not take the time out to file their tax returns because they are well aware that the IRS is taking the money from them to pay off child support debts. The government will only impose a penalty for not filing, if taxed are owed to the IRS. In other words, if you don’t owe the government, you don’t have to file. If the government owes you, it’s your loss. Having said that, the government is providing millions in bail out money, but is some of that money coming from money that could have been used to pay a single parent their outstanding child support?

For instance, my NC did not file taxes for almost 5 years, and each of those years, the refund would have been sent to me. When he finally filed, the IRS did not require him to send in forms for past years, and as far as I know, there was no penalty issued to him. Hypothetically, if he was due $500 for those 5 years, I would have been paid $2500 for those 5 years. Multiply by that by let’s say, 1 Million cases, and that would be $25 Million dollars recovered in a 5 year time frame, through IRS Garnishment alone. Now, I realize that $500 does not seem like much, but that is enough to cover a part of braces, diapers, or extracurricular activities. That is HUGE !

Why should a non-custodial parent file, they are not going to see the money, and in addition, they may not realize that there are free tax services that will help them file a return. There is no incentive, nor punishment for the non-custodial parent. Now, I realize that many people are going to point out that there are paying non-custodial parents that have problems with the current child support system. I truly feel for those individuals, and cannot comment on their situation because I am not experiencing it.

Many of us are so disgusted with the child support system, that we are not even trying to go after what is due to us, such as medical expenses, and extracurricular activities, because we feel that if the basic child support allotment is not met, what is the point of filing for other expenses.

I truly wish that the Congress would review the current laws governing IRS tax offsets, and impose a penalty for non-filers!