Income Withholding for Support form with August 31, 2020 Expiration Date Must be Used

10/01/18

Author: Jody Rodney/Wednesday, September 26, 2018/Categories: News

Overview: Based on guidance from the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) employers should now only be using the version of the Income Withholding for Support (IWO) Form that has an August 31, 2020 expiration date.

Effective Date: Immediate.

Details:
An IWO form is used by state and tribal agencies to transmit child support withholding orders and notices to employers and other debtors using standardized formats prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. On August 31, 2017, the OCSE issued a new version of the IWO Form and the form instructions. OCSE advised that the new form should be used immediately, but it allowed employers and other income withholders to continue to honor previous versions of the form for new income withholdings until August 31, 2018, to give state agencies and tribes additional time to make programming changes for the new form.

The IWO form and instructions were updated for clarity and consistency. Key changes included:
  • An optional field was added for the employee/obligor's date of birth.
  • The form instructions note that an entity, including a child support agency, should send a One-Time Order/Notice for Lump Sum Payment after receiving notification of an upcoming lump sum payment by an employer or other source.
  • The words "up to" were removed from the form in front of the withholding limit percentage under "Remittance Information." The form and instructions note that the IWO sender must enter a specific withholding percentage, up to the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits, in the correct data field to avoid over withholding from a noncustodial parent.
  • Tribal withholding limits were clarified and there is additional links to addresses and contacts for tribes.
  • The references to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Code to Locator Code were changed.
  • A link was added to the OCSE Child Support Portal for employers to report lump sum payments and terminations and to update information about their company.
  • Additional emphasis was made to fields that are optional and not required.
  • A statement was added on the encryption requirements.

Call to Action: For a copy of the required form and instructions, please click on the link provided below. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/resource/income-withholding-for-support-form

Please contact your Relationship Manager or Service Team with any questions.

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