Injured Spouse Assistance

Refund Offsets for Spouse’s Child Support Debt

If you or your spouse have an unpaid child support obligation, we may offset your refund to help pay the child support debt. If you do not want your refund to offset your spouse's child support obligation, you must send us information that breaks out your income from your spouse's income. Because of a law change in 2024, the the information reporting has changed beginning with tax year 2024. 

For tax years beginning after December 31, 2023 (2024 and beyond), if you do not want your refund to offset your spouse's child support obligation, send us a Form 2 that clearly breaks out your income from your spouse’s income.

For tax years beginning before January 1, 2024 (2023 and before), if you do not want your refund to offset your spouse's child support obligation, you can file your Montana tax return as married filing separate on separate forms.

If you file separately on separate forms, each spouse claims their own income, losses, deduction, expenses, exemptions, and credits.

Injured Spouse Assistance

If you filed a joint return with your spouse and we applied your refund to your spouse's child support debt, you may be considered an injured spouse. We can help you.

Contact us within 30 days of receiving the notice your refund was used to offset your spouse's child support debt. If necessary, we can help you file the correct tax return.