Tax refund offset programs

If we offset your New York State tax refund, we will send you a DTF-160, Account Adjustment Notice, detailing:

the amount we offset,
the agency we sent your money to, and
contact information for that agency.

If you have questions about a debt not owed to the Tax Department, you must contact the agency we sent the funds to.

If your refund was applied to a New York State tax debt, and the amount applied does not pay your balance in full, you must resolve your remaining balance. If you do not resolve your balance, we may proceed with collection action.

Refunds applied to your spouse’s debt

You must file Form IT-280, Nonobligated Spouse Allocation, with your return to protect your portion of a joint refund from being applied to a New York State debt owed solely by your spouse. See Nonobligated spouse relief for more information.

If you did not file Form IT-280 with your original return, and your refund has been offset to pay your spouse’s past due debt with a New York State agency, you will need to file this form within 10 days of the date we mailed you the DTF-160, Account Adjustment Notice.

Programs that offset tax refunds

Federal Refund Offset Program (FROP)

Also known as the Treasury Offset Program, the Federal Refund Offset Program (FROP) is a joint program between the New York State Tax Department and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. If you have a New York State or federal personal income tax debt:

the IRS may send your federal refund to us to be applied toward your New York State tax debt, or
we may offset your New York State refund and send it to the IRS to be applied toward a federal tax debt.

If we refer your debt to the federal government, we will send you a DTF-450, Notice of Intent to Refer Your Debt for Offset. If you do not resolve your debt, or provide evidence to successfully dispute our right to request an offset of those payments within 60 days of this notice, the IRS may send your federal refund to us to offset your New York State tax debt. If your IRS refund is more than your New York State tax debt, we will send you an overpayment check within 60 days, provided you do not have an outstanding debt with another New York State agency.

If your New York State tax refund was offset and sent to the IRS to pay a federal tax debt, contact the IRS to learn more about your federal tax debt.

Any processing fees related to the offset will also be deducted from your tax refund.

Multistate Refund Offset Program (MOP)

The Multistate Refund Offset Program (MOP) allows your tax refund to be offset by another state the tax department has a reciprocal refund offset agreement with. The Tax Department has reciprocal refund offset agreements with the following states:

California
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
New Jersey

If we refer your debt for offset to one of the states listed above, we will send you a DTF-450, Notice of Intent to Refer Your Debt for Offset. If you do not resolve your debt or provide evidence to successfully dispute our right to request an offset of those payments within 60 days of this notice, your refund from that state will be applied to your New York State tax debt.

If we sent your New York State tax refund to another state to be applied to your tax debt with that state, you must contact the tax department of that state for more information.

Statewide Offset Program (SWOP)

If you have outstanding debt with a New York State agency, we may offset your New York State tax refund to pay all or part of your debt. Agencies your refund could be offset to include, but are not limited to:

City University of New York (CUNY)
State University of New York (SUNY)
Department of Health
Department of Labor
Higher Education
Metro Transit Authority
Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

If you have questions regarding your debt with another agency, you must contact them for more information.

Updated: March 15, 2024