§ 285.5 Centralized offset of Federal payments to collect nontax debts owed to the United States.

(a) Scope. (1) This section governs the centralized offset of Federal payments to collect delinquent, nontax debts owed to Federal agencies in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 3716, 3720A and 26 U.S.C. 6402 and applicable regulations. The Department of the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) administers centralized offset through the Treasury Offset Program. Offset occurs when the Federal government withholds part or all of a debtor's Federal payment to satisfy the debtor's delinquent debt owed to the government.

(2) Special rules apply to the collection of delinquent, nontax debts through the centralized offset of certain types of Federal payments, including tax refunds (31 CFR 285.2), Federal benefit payments (31 CFR 285.4), and Federal salary payments (31 CFR 285.7). While this rule applies to such payments, nothing in this rule is intended to contradict any provision of those more specific sections. To the extent any provision of this rule is inconsistent with a more specific provision of § 285.2, § 285.4 or § 285.7 of this part, the more specific provision shall apply.

(3) The receipt of collections pursuant to this section does not preclude a Federal agency from pursuing other debt collection remedies in conjunction with centralized offset. Nothing in this section precludes an agency from pursuing all available debt collection remedies simultaneously, provided that collections do not exceed the amount of the debt, including any interest, penalties, and administrative costs.

(b) Definitions. As used in this section:

Agency or Federal agency means a department, agency or subagency, court, court administrative office, or instrumentality in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of the Federal Government, including government corporations.

Centralized offset means the offset of Federal payments through the Treasury Offset Program to collect debts which creditor agencies have certified pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3716(c), 3720A(a) and applicable regulations. The term “centralized offset” includes the Treasury Offset Program's processing of offsets of Federal payments disbursed by disbursing officials other than Fiscal Service.

Creditor agency has the same meaning as found at 31 U.S.C. 3701(e)(1) and means any Federal agency that is owed a claim or debt that seeks to collect that claim or debt through offset of Federal payments.

Debt or claim has the meaning contained in 31 U.S.C. 3701(b) and means any amount of money, funds, or property that has been determined by an appropriate official of the Federal government to be owed to the United States by a person, organization, or entity, except another Federal agency. The terms “debt” and “claim” are synonymous and include debt administered by a third party acting as an agent for the Federal Government. For purposes of this section, the term “debt” does not include debts arising under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the tariff laws of the United States, or the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), except to the extent provided in sections 204(f) and 1631(b)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 404(f) and 1383(b)(4)(A), respectively) and 31 U.S.C. 3716(c).

Debt collection center means a Federal agency or a unit or subagency within a Federal agency that has been designated by the Secretary to collect debt owed to the United States.

Debtor means a person who owes a debt to the United States.

Delinquent or past-due refers to the status of a debt and means a debt has not been paid by the date specified in the agency's initial written demand for payment, or applicable agreement or instrument (including a post-delinquency payment agreement), unless other payment arrangements satisfactory to the creditor agency have been made. Nothing in this section is intended to define whether a debt is delinquent or past-due for purposes other than offset under this section.

Delinquent debt record means information about a past-due, legally enforceable debt submitted by a creditor agency to Fiscal Service for purposes of offset in accordance with the provisions of this section. Information about a past-due, legally enforceable debt includes, but is not limited to, the amount of the debt and the debtor's name, address, and taxpayer identifying number.

Disbursing official means an official who has authority to disburse public money pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3321 or another law, including an official of the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Defense, the United States Postal Service, or any other government corporation, or any official of the United States designated by the Secretary of the Treasury to disburse public money.

Fiscal Service means the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a bureau of the Department of the Treasury and its disbursing office. Fiscal Service is responsible for administering centralized offset.

Legally enforceable refers to a characteristic of a debt and means there has been a final agency determination that the debt, in the amount stated, is due, and there are no legal bars to collection by offset. Debts that are not legally enforceable for purposes of this section include, but are not limited to, debts subject to the automatic stay in bankruptcy proceedings or debts covered by a statute that prohibits collection of such debt by offset. For example, if a delinquent debt is the subject of a pending administrative review process required by statute or regulation, and if collection action during the review process is prohibited, the debt is not considered legally enforceable for purposes of this section. Nothing in this section is intended to define whether a debt is legally enforceable for purposes other than offset under this section.

Match means the taxpayer identifying number and name (or derivative thereof) of the payee on a payment record are the same as the taxpayer identifying number and name of the debtor on a delinquent debt record.

Offset means withholding funds payable by the United States to, or held by the United States for, a person to satisfy a debt owed by the payee.

Past-due has the same meaning as “delinquent”, as defined above.

Payee means a person who is due a payment from a disbursing official as certified by the payment agency. For purposes of this section, a “payee” is a person who is entitled to the benefit of all or part of a payment from a disbursing official.

Payment agency means any agency that transmits payment requests, in the form of certified payment vouchers or other similar forms, to a disbursing official for disbursement.

Payment record means information contained on a payment request, in the form of a certified payment voucher or other similar form, that has been transmitted to a disbursing official for disbursement in accordance with the provisions of 31 U.S.C. 3325 and 3528 or other applicable law. For purposes of matching, “payment record” may include information extracted from a payment request. Such information could include, but is not limited to, the amount and type of payment and the payee's name, address, and taxpayer identifying number.