--- description: The Social Security Administration plans to stop intercepting tax refunds in order to settle debts more than 10 years old. It had been seizing state and federal tax funds from about 400,000 Americans whose relatives owed it money title: Tax Refunds: Social Security Won't Seize Them to Collect Old Debt image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Your Tax Refund Is Safe: Social Security Will Stop Seizing Refunds to Collect Old Debt by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 14, 2014 11:08 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 14, 2014 11:08 PM CUT The Social Security Administration plans to stop collecting taxpayer debt older than 10 years old, the Washington _Post_ [reports](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-stops-trying-to-collect-on-old-taxpayer-debts/2014/04/14/9355c58e-c40f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm%5Ftwitter%5Fwashingtonpost "undefined"). The federal government has been reportedly [seizing state and federal tax funds](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-treasury-target-hundreds-of-thousands-of-taxpayers-for-parents-old-debts/2014/04/10/74ac8eae-bf4d-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html "undefined") from about 400,000 Americans whose relatives owed money to Social Security. The collection dates back to 2008 when a farm bill lifted a statute of limitations on government debt older that was more than 10 years old and the Treasury Department allowed the government to intercept tax refunds to settle the debts. Approximately $2 billion worth of intercepted tax refunds have been collected by the Treasury this year, the _Post_ reports, $75 million of which was for 10-year-old, or older, debts. “I have directed an immediate halt to further referrals under the Treasury Offset Program to recover debts owed to the agency that are 10 years old and older pending a thorough review of our responsibility and discretion under the current law,” Social Security’s acting commissioner, Carolyn Colvin, said in a statement. \[[_Washington Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-stops-trying-to-collect-on-old-taxpayer-debts/2014/04/14/9355c58e-c40f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm%5Ftwitter%5Fwashingtonpost "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/62729/tax-refund-social-security-ol-debt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/62729/tax-refund-social-security-ol-debt/"},"headline":"Your Tax Refund Is Safe: Social Security Will Stop Seizing Refunds to Collect Old Debt","datePublished":"2014-04-14T23:08:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:18:20.204Z","description":"The Social Security Administration plans to stop intercepting tax refunds in order to settle debts more than 10 years old. It had been seizing state and federal tax funds from about 400,000 Americans whose relatives owed it money","url":"https://time.com/62729/tax-refund-social-security-ol-debt/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/62729/tax-refund-social-security-ol-debt/","name":"Your Tax Refund Is Safe: Social Security Will Stop Seizing Refunds to Collect Old Debt"}}]}] ```