10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 351, § 16-10

Current through 2024-25, June 19, 2024
Section 144-351-16-10 - DISTRIBUTION OF NON-TANF OFFSET COLLECTIONS
A. In cases where the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, through OCSE, notifies the State that an offset is being made to satisfy non-TANF past-due support from a refund based on a joint return, the Department may delay distribution until notified that the unobligated spouse's proper share of the refund has been paid, or for a period not to exceed six months from notification of offset, whichever is earlier.
B. Where and to the extent the offset has been made to satisfy non-TANF past-due support, if a timely request is made by the responsible parent for an administrative hearing regarding the offset action, distribution of the offset monies to the non-TANF client shall be made within 15 days of the date the appeal is resolved, and all remedies of the responsible parent have been exhausted.
C. In the case of suspected fraud (for example, when the Department determines that, at the time of the intercept, the noncustodial parent was either incarcerated long term, deceased, did not file a return, had insufficient income to justify the offset amount, etc.), in an attempt to avoid an erroneous intercept payment, the Department may delay distribution of a suspicious tax refund offset referred to the IRS for a period not to exceed six months from its receipt of the offset.

10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 351, § 16-10