Can my tax refund be seized to pay for student loans?

I have student loans that have gone to collection. Can the collection agency seize my tax refund? Can credit card collection companies? What are the laws?

I'm not sure about the laws, but the government can get a tax lein on your tax refund if you are in default on your student loans & take the tax refund as partial payment.

Credit card companies can't as their private enterprises...for government related debts though, they have a lot more power to attach your assets, etc. I'd highly recommend talking to the dept. of education, I'm still working on my student loans, and they've always been very reasonable with me.

Yes... it JUST happened to me. When the refund was not deposited in my account, I tracked it using the refund status link on the IRS website. Initially, the website said that my refund was scheduled to deposit on 4/10. Then on 4/9 the website said that the refund had been deposited into my account on 4/6, and that if the deposit was not appearing - that I should wait until 4/11 before contacting the IRS for further info. I contacted them today and learned that my entire refund was seized to pay for my student loan.

It happend to me The only way to get around it is if you are married and filed a joint tax return your spouse can file an injured spouse and get half the refund back.