T.C.A. § 67-1-1808 Offset of the Taxpayer's Refund of Taxes By the Amount of Debt Owed to a Claimant

• Library: Tennessee Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Acts 2023-2024, ch. 488, and 2023EX1, ch. 4
• Year: 2023
• Citation: T.C.A. § 67-1-1808

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Claimant" means any state agency, department, board, bureau, commission, or authority to which a taxpayer owes any debt listed in subsection (d) or that acts on behalf of a person to collect such debt. Such term may also include a clerk who serves a court of criminal jurisdiction, if the clerk has determined to participate in the offset provisions of this section;

(2) "Debt" means any money, unpaid account, or sum due and owing any claimant by a taxpayer, or any money, unpaid account, or sum that is due and owing any person and is legally enforceable by the claimant;

(3) "Debtor" means a person owing a debt to a claimant and who files a claim for a tax refund, subject to the further requirements of this section;

(4) "Offset" or "set off" means the application of all or part of a taxpayer's refund of taxes to pay a taxpayer's debt owed to a claimant; and

(5) "Person" or "taxpayer" means every individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, limited liability company, cooperative, trust, regulated investment company, receiver, and syndicate.

(b) Whenever a taxpayer has, on the date of payment, paid taxes in error or paid taxes against any statute, rule, regulation or clause of the constitution of the state or of the United States, and is due a refund pursuant to this part, and the taxpayer reports to be a debtor in the manner provided by § 67-1-1802(a)(1)(B)(ii), the commissioner shall offset the taxpayer's refund of taxes by the amount of the debt as provided in this section.

(c) This section shall apply to any claim for refund of state taxes filed by any taxpayer in the amount of two hundred dollars ($200) or more that is not eligible for automatic credit or refund pursuant to § 67-1-1802(a)(1)(A). A tax refund shall not be offset to pay the debt of any person who is not the taxpayer due the refund. Whenever a claim for refund is filed by two (2) or more persons, who were jointly and severally liable for the taxes paid, the entire refund amount shall be subject to offset to pay the debt or debts of one (1) or more of the taxpayers.

(d) The following debts shall be used to offset a refund of taxes:

(1) State tax liabilities due pursuant to this title;

(2) Child support due pursuant to title 36, chapters 2, 5, or 6, or pursuant to title 37, chapter 1;

(3) Amounts owed to the unemployment compensation fund pursuant to title 50, chapter 7;