Revised IWO Form and Instructions — Expire Aug. 31, 2026

AT-23-13

Publication Date: October 5, 2023
Current as of:

ACTION TRANSMITTAL

AT-23-13

DATE: October 5, 2023

TO: State and Tribal IV-D Agencies 

SUBJECT: Revised IWO Form and Instructions — Expire Aug. 31, 2026

ATTACHMENT:  IWO form and instructions

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the revised Income Withholding Order for Support (IWO) form and instructions with an expiration date of Aug. 31, 2026. Under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, state child support agencies and tribes that operate child support programs established in accordance with Title IV-D must use the IWO form.

States and tribes have one year to implement this revised version of the IWO. OMB extended the expiration date on the previous version to Sept. 30, 2024.

We requested public comments on the revised IWO form and instructions in the Federal Register notice published July 12, 2023  (PDF). 

Changes to the IWO Form:

  • Moved the Paperwork Reduction Act language to the instructions and changed the contact email from employerservices@acf.hhs.gov to OCSSFedSystems@acf.hhs.gov 
  • Bolded references to the tribal child support agency order instructions in the “Remittance Information” section
  • Updated the name of the Office of Child Support Enforcement to Office of Child Support Services (OCSS)

Changes to the Instructions:

  • Edited instructions in the “Note to Employer/Income Withholder” section:
    • Page 1 of 7: Bolded reference to order issued by a tribal CSA in the first bullet
    • Page 1 of 7: Added a new bullet stating, “After processing an IWO, the payment is returned to income withholder because the order information is not on the child support system and the SDU could not process the payment. The income withholder should return the payment to employee.”
    • Page 2 of 7: Edited bullet to this: Form does not contain all information necessary for the employer to comply with the withholding such as, missing Remittance Identifier, invalid case identifier or missing sender contact information
    • Page 2 of 7: Edited bullet to this: Form is altered or contains invalid information such as “step-down” provisions or other future events that an employer is not required to monitor
  • Bolded references to the tribal CSA order instructions in section V. “Remittance Information” 
  • Added more details to the instructions under 1d regarding the OMB expiration date.

ACTION REQUIRED:  Use the revised IWO form, which expires on Aug. 31, 2026

SUPERSEDES: AT-23-12

EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately, although states and tribes may need additional time to make programming changes. You must generate this revised form by Oct. 1, 2024.

INQUIRIES: ACF/OCSS Regional Program Managers