Tax and student loans?

How many payments behind on your student loans can you be before they starts taking it out of your tax refund?

• Hi, I have fallen behind on my student loan payments (I wish I had never applied for a student loan at all!!). I have every intention on making the payments I owe to my student loans and if I can't do that before I get my tax refund, I will definitely pay what ever is past due and current with my tax refund money. Of course, I am worried that if I haven't been able to pay my past due before tax refund time that they will just take our whole joint tax refund and apply all of it to my student loans. I haven't been able to pay my student loans since about February and the payments are about $55 a month so, so far I am 7 months behind which translates to $385. Can they take my whole tax refund for under $1000 of past due student loan payments??

• Answer:

  Once you are in default, any tax refunds can be offset. You are in default if you have not made a payment in 9 months. Your spouse can attach a Form 8379 to your joint return to protect their share of any refund on the joint return. If an offset is triggered, they will only take the amount that you are in default. If you were in default by $500 and had a $1,000 refund coming, they would only take the $500 that you were in default, plus any accrued unpaid interest. If you are in default by $1,000 and your refund is $500, the entire refund will be captured.