---
kind: "range"
citation: "20 C.F.R. §§ 408.920–408.946"
title: "20"
from: "408.920"
to: "408.946"
count: 14
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/408.920..408.946"
---

# §408.920. When will we seek refund of an SVB overpayment?


We will seek refund of an SVB overpayment in every case in which we have not waived recovery. An overpayment may be refunded by you or by anyone on your behalf. If you are receiving SVB currently and you have not refunded the overpayment, adjustment as set forth in [§ 408.922](/cfr/20/408.922.md) will be proposed. If you die before we recover the full overpayment, we will seek refund of the balance from your estate.


# §408.922. When will we adjust your SVB payments to recover an overpayment?


If you do not refund your overpayment to us, and waiver of recovery is not applicable, we will adjust any SVB payments due you to recover the overpayment. Adjustment will generally be accomplished by withholding each month the amount set forth in [§ 408.923](/cfr/20/408.923.md) from the benefit payable to you.


# §408.923. Is there a limit on the amount we will withhold from your SVB payments to recover an overpayment?

- (a) **Amount of the withholding limit.** Except as provided in paragraphs [(b)](#b) and [(c)](#c) of this section, the amount we will withhold from your monthly SVB payment to recover an overpayment is limited to the lesser of (1) the amount of your Federal SVB payment or (2) an amount equal to 10 percent of the maximum SVB monthly payment amount as defined in [§ 408.505(a)](/cfr/20/408.505.md?p=a).
- (b) **Your right to request a different rate of withholding.** When we notify you of the rate we propose to withhold from your monthly SVB payment, we will give you the opportunity to request a higher or lower rate of withholding than that proposed. If you request a rate of withholding that is lower than the one established under [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section, we will set a rate that is appropriate to your financial condition after we evaluate all the pertinent facts. An appropriate rate is one that will not deprive you of income required for ordinary and necessary living expenses. We will evaluate your income, resources, and expenses as described in [§ 404.508](/cfr/20/404.508.md) of this chapter.
- (c) **Fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of material information.** If we determine that there was fraud, willful misrepresentation, or concealment of material information by you in connection with the overpayment, the limits in paragraph (a)(2) of this section do not apply and we will not lower the rate of withholding under [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section. Concealment of material information means an intentional, knowing, and purposeful delay in making or in failing to make a report that will affect your SVB payment amount and/or eligibility. It does not include a mere omission on your part; it is an affirmative act to conceal.

# §408.930. Are title II and title XVI benefits subject to adjustment to recover title VIII overpayments?

- (a) **Definitions—**
  - (1) **Cross-program recovery.** Cross-program recovery is the process that we will use to collect title VIII overpayments from benefits payable to you under title II or title XVI of the Social Security Act.
  - (2) **Benefits payable.** For purposes of this section, benefits payable means the amount of title II or title XVI benefits you actually would receive. For title II benefits, it includes your monthly benefit and your past-due benefits after any reductions or deductions listed in § [404.401(a)](/cfr/20/404.401.md?p=a) and [(b)](/cfr/20/404.401.md?p=b) of this chapter. For title XVI benefits, it includes your monthly benefit and your past-due benefits as described in [§ 416.420](/cfr/20/416.420.md) of this chapter.
- (b) **When may we collect title VIII overpayments using cross-program recovery?** We may use cross-program recovery to collect a title VIII overpayment you owe when benefits are payable to you under title II, title XVI, or both.

# §408.931. How much will we withhold from your title II and title XVI benefits to recover a title VIII overpayment?

- (a) If past-due benefits are payable to you, we will withhold the lesser of the entire overpayment balance or the entire amount of past-due benefits.
- (b)
  - (1) We will collect the overpayment from current monthly benefits due in a month under title II and title XVI by withholding the lesser of the amount of the entire overpayment balance or:
    - (i) 10 percent of the monthly title II benefits payable for that month and
    - (ii) in the case of title XVI benefits, an amount no greater than the lesser of the benefit payable for that month or an amount equal to 10 percent of your income for that month (including such monthly benefit but excluding payments under title II when recovery is also made from title II benefits and excluding income excluded pursuant to §§ [416.1112](/cfr/20/416.1112.md) and [416.1124](/cfr/20/416.1124.md) of this chapter).
  - (2) **Paragraph (b)(1) of this section does not apply if—**
    - (i) You request and we approve a different rate of withholding, or
    - (ii) You or your spouse willfully misrepresented or concealed material information in connection with the overpayment.
- (c) In determining whether to grant your request that we withhold less than the amount described in [paragraph (b)(1)](#b-1) of this section, we will use the criteria applied under [§ 408.923](/cfr/20/408.923.md) to similar requests about withholding from title VIII benefits.
- (d) If you or your spouse willfully misrepresented or concealed material information in connection with the overpayment, we will collect the overpayment by withholding the lesser of the overpayment balance or the entire amount of title II benefits and title XVI benefits payable to you. We will not collect at a lesser rate. (See [§ 408.923](/cfr/20/408.923.md) for what we mean by concealment of material information.)

# §408.932. Will you receive notice of our intention to apply cross-program recovery?


Before we collect an overpayment from you using cross-program recovery, we will send you a written notice that tells you the following information:

- (a) We have determined that you owe a specific overpayment balance that can be collected by cross-program recovery;
- (b) We will withhold a specific amount from the title II or title XVI benefits (see [§ 408.931(b)](/cfr/20/408.931.md?p=b));
- (c) You may ask us to review this determination that you still owe this overpayment balance;
- (d) You may request that we withhold a different amount from your current monthly benefits (the notice will not include this information if [§ 408.931(d)](/cfr/20/408.931.md?p=d) applies); and
- (e) You may ask us to waive collection of this overpayment balance.

# §408.933. When will we begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits?

- (a) We will begin collecting the overpayment balance by cross-program recovery from your title II and title XVI current monthly benefits no sooner than 30 calendar days after the date of the notice described in [§ 408.932](/cfr/20/408.932.md). If within that 30-day period you pay us the full overpayment balance stated in the notice, we will not begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits.
- (b) If within that 30-day period you ask us to review our determination that you still owe us this overpayment balance, we will not begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits before we review the matter and notify you of our decision in writing.
- (c) If within that 30-day period you ask us to withhold a different amount than the amount stated in the notice, we will not begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits until we determine the amount we will withhold. This paragraph does not apply when [§ 408.931(d)](/cfr/20/408.931.md?p=d) applies.
- (d) If within that 30-day period you ask us to waive recovery of the overpayment balance, we will not begin cross-program recovery from your current monthly benefits before we review the matter and notify you of our decision in writing. See [§§ 408.910 through 408.914](/cfr/20/408.910..408.914.md).

# §408.940. When will we refer an SVB overpayment to the Department of the Treasury for tax refund offset?

- (a) **General.** The standards we will apply and the procedures we will follow before requesting the Department of the Treasury to offset income tax refunds due you to recover outstanding overpayments are set forth in [§§ 408.940 through 408.946](/cfr/20/408.940..408.946.md) of this subpart. These standards and procedures are authorized by [31 U.S.C. 3720A](/usc/31/3720A.md), as implemented through Department of the Treasury regulations at [31 CFR 285.2](/cfr/31/285.2.md).
- (b) We will use the Department of the Treasury tax refund offset procedure to collect overpayments that are certain in amount, past due and legally enforceable and eligible for tax refund offset under regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury. We will use these procedures to collect overpayments from you only when you are not currently entitled to monthly SVB under title VIII of the Act, and we are not recovering your SVB overpayment from your monthly benefits payable under title II of the Act. We refer overpayments to the Department of the Treasury for offset against Federal tax refunds regardless of the amount of time the debts have been outstanding.

# §408.941. Will we notify you before we refer an SVB overpayment for tax refund offset?


Before we request that an overpayment be collected by reduction of Federal and State income tax refunds, we will send a written notice of our action to the overpaid person. In our notice of intent to collect an overpayment through tax refund offset, we will state:

- (a) The amount of the overpayment; and
- (b) That we will collect the overpayment by requesting that the Department of the Treasury reduce any amounts payable to the overpaid person as refunds of Federal and State income taxes by an amount equal to the amount of the overpayment unless, within 60 calendar days from the date of our notice, the overpaid person:
  - (1) Repays the overpayment in full; or
  - (2) Provides evidence to us at the address given in our notice that the overpayment is not past due or legally enforceable; or
  - (3) **Asks us to waive collection of the overpayment under section 204(b) of the Act.**
- (c) The conditions under which we will waive recovery of an overpayment under section 808(c) of the Act;
- (d) That we will review any evidence presented that the overpayment is not past due or not legally enforceable;
- (e) That you have the right to inspect and copy our records related to the overpayment as determined by us and you will be informed as to where and when the inspection and copying can be done after we receive notice from you requesting inspection and copying.

# §408.942. Will you have a chance to present evidence showing that the overpayment is not past due or is not legally enforceable?

- (a) **Notification.** If you receive a notice as described in [§ 408.941](/cfr/20/408.941.md) of this subpart, you have the right to present evidence that all or part of the overpayment is not past due or not legally enforceable. To exercise this right, you must notify us and present evidence regarding the overpayment within 60 calendar days from the date of our notice.
- (b) **Submission of evidence.** You may submit evidence showing that all or part of the debt is not past due or not legally enforceable as provided in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section. Failure to submit the notification and evidence within 60 calendar days will result in referral of the overpayment to the Department of the Treasury, unless, within this 60-day time period, you ask us to waive collection of the overpayment under [§ 408.910](/cfr/20/408.910.md) and we have not yet determined whether we can grant the waiver request. If you ask us to waive collection of the overpayment, we may ask you to submit evidence to support your request.
- (c) **Review of the evidence.** If you submit evidence on a timely basis, we will consider all available evidence related to the overpayment. We will make findings based on a review of the written record, unless we determine that the question of indebtedness cannot be resolved by a review of the documentary evidence.
- (d) **Written findings.** We will issue our written findings including supporting rationale to you, your attorney or other representative. The findings will be our final action with respect to the past-due status and enforceability of the overpayment.

# §408.943. What happens after we make our determination on your request for review or your request for waiver?

- (a) If we make a determination that all or part of the overpayment is past due and legally enforceable and/or your waiver request cannot be granted, we will refer the overpayment to the Department of the Treasury for recovery from any Federal income tax refund due you. We will not suspend our referral of the overpayment to the Department of the Treasury under [§ 408.945](/cfr/20/408.945.md) of this subpart pending any further administrative review of the waiver determination that you may seek.
- (b) We will not refer the overpayment to the Department of the Treasury if we reverse our prior finding that the overpayment is past due and legally enforceable or, upon consideration of a waiver request, we determine that waiver of recovery of the overpayment is appropriate.

# §408.944. How can you review our records related to an SVB overpayment?

- (a) **What you must do.** If you intend to inspect or copy our records related to the overpayment, you must notify us stating your intention to inspect or copy.
- (b) **What we will do.** If you notify us that you intend to inspect or copy our records related to the overpayment as described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section, we will notify you of the location and time when you may do so. We may also, at our discretion, mail copies of the overpayment-related records to you.

# §408.945. When will we suspend tax refund offset?


If, within 60 days of the date of the notice described in [§ 408.941](/cfr/20/408.941.md) of this subpart, you notify us that you are exercising a right described in [§ 408.942(a)](/cfr/20/408.942.md?p=a) of this subpart and submit evidence pursuant to [§ 408.942(b)](/cfr/20/408.942.md?p=b) of this subpart or request a waiver under [§ 408.910](/cfr/20/408.910.md) of this subpart, we will suspend any notice to the Department of the Treasury until we have issued written findings that affirm that an overpayment is past due and legally enforceable and, if applicable, make a determination that a waiver request cannot be granted.


# §408.946. What happens if your tax refund is insufficient to cover the amount of your SVB overpayment?


If your tax refund is insufficient to recover an overpayment in a given year, the case will remain with the Department of the Treasury for succeeding years, assuming that all criteria for certification are met at that time.