Tax and Lottery Intercept

When the amount of past-due support meets certain criteria, the child support program will intercept the delinquent payer's state and federal tax refund(s), and state lottery winnings of $1000 or more.

Federal Tax Intercept

For federal tax returns to be intercepted, all three of these conditions must be true:

1. The past-due amount owed to the family is $500 or more on a court case – OR – $150 or more if any part of the past-due amount is assigned to the state.

2. The child support agency knows the Social Security number or Tax Identification number of the parent who owes the past-due support.

3. The case gets case-management services (child support services) from a local child support agency.

State Tax Intercept

State tax refunds are intercepted if all four conditions below are met:

1. The past-due amount on a court case is $150 or more.
2. The child support agency knows the Social Security number or Tax Identification number of the parent who owes past-due support.
3. The case receives case management services (child support services) from a local child support agency.
4. The case is a Wisconsin child support case. (If the payer files a state return in another state, Wisconsin might work with that state to intercept that state's refund.)

Lottery Intercept

If parent wins a Wisconsin state lottery prize worth $1,000 or more and is certified for state tax intercept, the certified amount will automatically be taken from the prize winnings and used to pay past-due support. The intercepted lottery winnings are paid out the same way as intercepted state tax refunds.

The lottery winnings will be taken if the parent gets the full jackpot all at once, or if the winnings are paid out over time.

Further Reading

These materials are available on the Wisconsin Child Support web site:

• Intercepting Federal Tax Refunds
• Intercepting State Tax Refunds