Department of Workforce Development

		Scott McCallum  Governor State of Wisconsin

Governor Announces State Will Intercept Federal Tax
 Rebates From Parents Who Owe Back Child Support

Madison – Gov. Scott McCallum announced today parents who owe back child support might not find a federal tax rebate check in their mailbox. Instead, the rebates will be used to pay past due support. The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) estimates Wisconsin will collect approximately $10 million as a result of the tax intercept program.

"This is a reasonable measure to help ensure that custodial parents have the resources they need to take care of their children," Gov. McCallum said. "In Wisconsin, there is no higher priority than that."

Federal tax rebate intercepts will affect approximately 40,000 non-custodial parents in Wisconsin. Those parents affected owe $500 or more in overdue child support on a court case that involves a child under 18, or they owe $150 or more in overdue child support to the state for AFDC/W-2 or Medicaid cost recovery. It is a federal requirement that parents repay the government for services under the former AFDC program, W-2, and birth costs paid for by Medicaid through the tax intercept program. The repayment provides additional relief for taxpayers who pay for the administration of the programs.

The state rebate checks mailed out in January 2000 resulted in more than $6.4 million in collections for a total of nearly $14 million in state tax intercept collections in Wisconsin in FFY (federal fiscal year) 2000.

"It’s unfortunate that such measures have become necessary," Gov. McCallum said. "But when you consider nearly $2 billion in back child support is owed in Wisconsin, without question we need to take every step possible to collect the unpaid support and place it in the hands of families in need."

Gov. McCallum added that two new child support collection tools hold great promise in reducing the amount of back child support owed in the state. In the first nine months of operation, the lien docket has collected nearly $1 million by placing liens on people’s homes and preventing the sale of the home until the lien is satisfied. And beginning Aug. 7, the 23,640 people who are on the lien docket will also have liens placed on their vehicles.

The state of Wisconsin currently enforces child support cases involving more than 330,000 children, which is approximately one of every four children in the state. Child support collections in Wisconsin have increased by more than 135 percent in the last 10 years.

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