2014 Revisions to the Income Withholding for Support (IWO) Form and Instructions
AT-14-05
ACTION TRANSMITTAL
AT-14-05
DATE: July 15, 2014
ATTACHMENTS: OMB 0970-0154 IWO Form and Instructions (Expired)
TO: State and Tribal Agencies Administering Child Support Enforcement Plans under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and Other Interested Individuals
SUBJECT: 2014 Revisions to the Income Withholding for Support (IWO) Form and Instructions
BACKGROUND: Statutory requirements under sections 466(a)(1), (a)(8), and 466(b)(6) of the Social Security Act (the Act) require the use of the Income Withholding for Support (IWO) form in all IV-D cases, and in non-IV-D cases with orders initially issued in the state on or after January 1, 1994. Private firms, attorneys, and courts authorized under state law to issue IWOs must use the OMB-approved IWO form for all child support income withholding by employers.
Tribes that operate IV-D programs (i.e., child support programs established in accordance with Title IV-D of the Act) are required to use the IWO form. This requirement was established with the publication of the Final Rule for Tribal Child Support Enforcement Programs on March 30, 2004 [Volume 69, Number 61 on page 16638 (PDF)].
Changes to the IWO Form
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) solicited comments for revisions to the IWO form via the Federal Register on July 9, 2013 [Volume 78, Number 139 on page 43208 (PDF)]. OCSE updated the IWO form and instructions for clarity and consistency. Key changes include:
- Updated hyperlinks: We updated hyperlinks to provide the current OCSE web pages.
- Standard references: We made terms standard, such as “Remittance ID” for “remittance identifier”, and legal citations all appear in similar fashion.
- Larger font and more lines for state-specific information: We accommodated states’ requests by increasing the number of lines for state-specific information. Font was enlarged to improve readability. These and other changes resulted in the addition of 1 page in the total number of pages of the IWO form.
- Non-employee withholding limits: We added language to the Remittance information section on page 2 that directs employers/income withholders to Supplemental Information on page 3 for withholding limits for non-employees. This information also appears on the State Income Withholding Contacts and Program Information matrix on the OCSE website.
- Standard headers: We updated the headers on pages 2 — 4 so they contain all of the same information, which includes employer name and FEIN, employee name and SSN, child support agency case identifier, and order identifier.
- Withholding Limits on Tribal Orders: We clarified that tribal law governs withholding limits for tribal orders.
- Instructions to issue one IWO form for each IV-D case: We provided guidance in the instructions to the form that one IWO form must be issued for each IV-D case as defined in 45 CFR 305.1.
SUPERSEDED MATERIAL: AT-11-05, AT-07-07, AT-04-05, AT-01-07, AT-98-03
REFERENCES: AT-97-12, AT-97-04
EFFECTIVE DATE: States, tribes, and others should begin using this form immediately; however, OCSE recognizes that some may need programming time. Employers and other income withholders are directed to continue to honor previous forms for new income withholdings until July 31, 2015. The new expiration date is 07/31/2017.
INQUIRIES: ACF/OCSE Regional Program Managers
Sincerely,
Vicki Turetsky
Files
- PDF Income Withholding for Support Form - expired 2017-07-31.pdf (574.22 KB)
- PDF Income Withholding for Support Instructions - expired 2017-07-31.pdf (188.03 KB)