Treasury Offset Program
The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) is a centralized debt collection program developed by the Financial Management Service (FMS) designed to collect past due debts owed to federal agencies and states (including overdue child support payments).Past due account information is reported to the Department of Treasury on accounts receiving no payments within 62 days of the initial debt notification. Under the TOP, federal income tax refunds, federal salaries and other payments from government agencies, are automatically applied to past due accounts to offset, or pay, the debt owed. This is called administrative offset.
Legally, administrative offset is authorized from payments due to an individual from:- Federal Income Tax Refunds: 100 percent of the remaining balance of the debt
- Office of Personnel Management Annuity Payments: 15 percent of disposable pay, which is the amount of your pay after deductions required by law are subtracted
- Social Security Administration Payments: 15 percent of disposable pay
- Federal Salary Offset: 15 percent of disposable pay
If your federal salary has been offset under the TOP, your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) will contain the following remark:
“$_____.__ COLLECTED THIS PAY PERIOD FOR A $_____.__ TREASURY OFFSET PROGRAM DEBT. CONTACT THE TOP CALL CENTER AT 1-800-304-3107 FOR MORE INFORMATION.”For questions regarding the offset of your federal salary, call the TOP Call Center during its customer service hours at the numbers below:
- TOLL Free: 800-304-3107
- TDD: 866-297-0517
Please note: Your best information source regarding debt collection from your federal salary is the TOP Call Center. Unfortunately, your civilian payroll office has no details regarding the TOP’s debt collection.
For Civilian Pay questions, please contact your Customer Service Representative (CSR). Contact your immediate supervisor for more details.
Page updated February 6, 2015