Section 27-7-401 - Definitions; procedure for setoff of taxpayer's debt owed to the Department of Human Services; protest by taxpayer(1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed by this section unless another meaning is plainly indicated: (a) "Claimant agency" means the Mississippi Department of Human Services.(b) "Debtor" means any individual, corporation or partnership owing money or having a delinquent account with the claimant agency, which obligation has not been adjudicated satisfied by court order, set aside by court order or discharged in bankruptcy.(c) "Debt" means any sum due and owing the claimant agency for any overpayment under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program and the Child Care and Development Fund Program.(d) "Refund" means the Mississippi income tax refund which the department determines to be due any individual taxpayer, corporation or partnership.(2) The collection remedy authorized by this section is in addition to and is not substitution for any other remedy available by law.(3)(a) The claimant agency may submit debts in excess of One Hundred Twenty-five Dollars ($125.00) owed to it to the department for collection through setoff, under the procedure established by this section, except in cases where the validity of the debt is legitimately in dispute, an alternate means of collection is pending and believed to be adequate, or such collection would result in a loss of federal funds or federal assistance.(b) Upon the request of the claimant agency, the department shall set off any refund against the sum certified by the claimant agency as provided in this section.(4)(a) Within the time frame specified by the department, the claimant agency seeking to collect a debt through setoff shall supply the information necessary to identify each debtor whose refund is sought to be set off and certify the amount of debt owed by each such debtor.(b)(i) If a debtor identified by the claimant agency is determined by the department to be entitled to a refund of at least Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), the department shall transfer an amount equal to the refund owed, not to exceed the amount of the claimed debt certified, to the claimant agency. The department shall send the excess amount to the debtor within a reasonable time after such excess is determined.(ii) At the time of the transfer of funds to the claimant agency under this paragraph (b), the department shall notify the taxpayer or taxpayers whose refund is sought to be set off that the transfer has been made. Such notice shall clearly set forth the name of the debtor, the manner in which the debt arose, the amount of the claimed debt, the transfer of funds to the claimant agency pursuant to this paragraph (b) and the intention to set off the refund against the debt, the amount of the refund in excess of the claimed debt, the taxpayer's opportunity to give written notice to contest the setoff within thirty (30) days of the date of mailing of the notice, the name and mailing address of the claimant agency to which the application for such a hearing must be sent, and the fact that the failure to apply for such a hearing, in writing, within the thirty-day period will be deemed a waiver of the opportunity to contest the setoff. In the case of a joint return or a joint refund, the notice shall also state the name of the taxpayer named in the return, if any, against whom no debt is claimed, the fact that a debt is not claimed against such taxpayer, the fact that such taxpayer is entitled to receive a refund if it is due him or her regardless of the debt asserted against his or her spouse, and that, in order to obtain a refund due him or her, such taxpayer must apply in writing for a hearing with the claimant agency named in the notice within thirty (30) days of the date of the mailing of the notice. The failure of a taxpayer to apply in writing for a hearing within such time will constitute waiver of the opportunity to contest the setoff.(c) The claimant agency shall pay the department a fee, not to exceed Seventeen Dollars ($17.00), in each case in which a tax refund is identified as being available for setoff by the department. Such fee shall be deposited by the department into a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury, out of which the Legislature shall appropriate monies to defray expenses of the department in employing personnel to administer the provisions of this section.(5)(a) When the claimant agency receives a protest or an application in writing from a taxpayer within thirty (30) days of the notice issued by the department, the claimant agency shall set a date to hear the protest and give notice to the taxpayer through the United States Postal Service or electronic digital transfer of the date so set. The time and place of such hearing shall be designated in such notice, and the date set shall be not less than fifteen (15) days from the date of such notice. If, at the hearing, the sum asserted as due and owing is found not to be correct, an adjustment to the claim may be made. The claimant agency shall give notice to the debtor of its final determination as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection.(b) No issues shall be reconsidered at the hearing which have been previously litigated.(c) If any debtor is dissatisfied with the final determination made at the hearing by the claimant agency, he or she may appeal the final determination to the circuit court of the county in which the main office of the claimant agency is located by filing notice of appeal, within thirty (30) days of the date the notice of final determination was given by the claimant agency, with the administrative head of the claimant agency and with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the appeal shall be taken.(6) Upon final determination of the amount of the debt due and owing by means of hearing or by the taxpayer's default through failure to submit a timely request for review, the claimant agency shall irreversibly recoup the amount of the debt due and owing and shall credit such amount to the debtor's obligation.(7)(a) Pursuant to Section 27-7-83, the department may provide to a claimant agency all information necessary to accomplish and effectuate the intent of this section.(b) The information obtained by the claimant agency from the department in accordance with the provisions of this section shall retain its confidentiality and shall only be used by the claimant agency in the pursuit of its debt collection duties and practices. Any employee or prior employee of the claimant agency who unlawfully discloses any such information for any other purpose, except as specifically authorized by law, shall be subject to the same penalties specified by law for unauthorized confidential information by an agent or employee of the department.Added by Laws, 2024, ch. 416, HB 1638,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2024.