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Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services
The Office of Child Support Enforcement Giving Hope and Support to America's Children

What is FIDM? > Multi-State Match > Federal Offset File

In addition, OCSE uses the Federal Offset File, a national file of delinquent obligors, to administer the Federal Tax Offset Program, Administrative Offset Program, Passport Denial and Multistate Financial Institution Data Match.  These aid in the enforcement of child support and in obtaining collections as follows.

  • Federal Tax Offset Program - offsets Federal tax refunds owed to obligors and sends the refund to the State child support agency through OCSE;
  • Administrative Offset Program - offsets payments from Federal agencies (e.g., due private vendors who perform work for a government agency, Federal retirement payments, and relocation and travel reimbursements owed to Federal employees);
  • Passport Denial Program - denies issuance of a passport by the Secretary of State to any person certified by the Department of Health and Human Services as owing a child support debt exceeding the statutory threshold;
  • Multistate Financial Institution Data Match - identifies accounts located in multistate financial institutions held by delinquent obligors and returns the matched data to the States for issuance of liens and levies to collect past due support.

Last Updated: September 11, 2006