[tahoengirl]

My husband has to pay child support for a baby he just had outside our marriage.He did the dna and the baby is his.The court ordered him to pay back child support in the amount of about $2000.00. They garnish is paycheck for the child support and take out money also for the back child support. My question is will they take our taxes when we file? We are getting money back,and should I think about filing seperatly? He is not deliquent on his back payments.We live in California.

[s_cianci]

If there's more than $500 in child support arrears then there's a chance of your income tax refund being intercepted. File a joint return and if your refund is intercepted then you can file an injured spouse claim to supplement your tax return. Your portion of the refund would then be prorated and sent to you.

[MukatA]

Yes, you won't get the refund, it will be used for child support. Your options are either to file separate return or file Form 8379 with the joint return. If you use Form 8379, you should receive your refund within 14 weeks from the date the paper return is filed or within 11 weeks from the date the return is filed electronically.
If you will get more combined refund by filing jointly, then may it is a better of option. For your portion of money, you can together work out.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Hold on, guys! Paying the child support appears to be a relatively new requirement, so it is possible the state has not gotten around to notifying the IRS about the child support in arrears.

My advice is to prepare the return BOTH way (jointly and separately), and file separately if the refund difference is not too great.

Then, for 2008, have him adjust his withholdings so that he will write a check instead of getting a refund (which is better money management anyway) to avoid the problem next year.

[sunnyMI]

I would suggest you file jointly, and IF needed file an injured spouse form so your portion of the return will not be withheld. I live in MI and there is a toll free number you can call to see if there is a withholding order placed on any account (tax refunds, etc). Tax refunds are not usually withheld unless the arrearages total 3 months or more of support. If you are filing electronically, your accountant should be able to alert you with in 24 hours if there will be a hold on your return. I would not suggest filing separately as it will put you in a different tax bracket!

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

SunnyMI makes some good points, but doing the return separately may result in higher refunds for both of you, so I stand by my original recommendation.

[hossbonnam]

Yes very possible.
Thye took my taxes in 2006 for the same reason.
Even though I had an agreement that it was to
Come out of my check each week for
Arrearages they still interscepted my taxes.

BUT they left me with just $500.00 still in arrearages.
I guess that's the limit