Child support programs’ access to IRS tax refunds in jeopardy

A standoff with Congress rooted in taxpayer privacy has prompted the IRS to cut off a form of child support for families in at least 10 Native American tribes, a scenario that could be replicated in all 50 states as soon as this fall, affecting hundreds of thousands more households.

Every year, more than 1 million tax refunds are garnished at the request of state governments and rerouted to custodial parents. Those efforts are a key piece of the nation’s child support pipeline — representing $2 billion, or 6 percent of such payments in 2022. For many families, those seizures are the only source of child support.