Odd question. A while ago, my fed. tax return was taken because I was defaulted on my student loans...

Fair enough..

But now that I'm out of default, and looking at the paperwork, I don't see where it was ever credited againsted my loans....

Anyone know where I can look it up??

When you default on SLs, payments first get credited to penalties and fees, then accrued interest, then principal. When you finish with rehab, you usually get a lot of those penalties and fees taken off (mine was about 10% of the total balance that was "forgiven"), but not until you're done. So, it's likely that it was applied to the balance as it stood then, but since the penalties and fees got dropped (or some portion of them), you don't see any benefit of it.

Have you checked the NSLDS system (the government one)? There's a link to it on a sticky in the Student Loan Forum. It has all of the information on your federal SLs. They don't generally list specific payments, I don't think, but they may list tax return garnishments. If you've never logged in there, you have to have a PIN, but you can now request one on-line and it only takes a day.

I hope this helps!

Not that I recommend NOT PAYING BILLS...but you can figure out how to fix your WITHHOLDING NUMBER so you only can PAY...(W-4)

You don't have to pay like $1,000+ you can fix it so you only pay like $100 or so...

(assuming you have no major changes in income)

TAX REFUNDS ARE AN INTEREST FREE LOAN TO THE STATE or FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

I have one cashier that has 4 kids and a disabled husband and she is the only one working (HE GETS SSDI)

She has 0 SINGLE and LIKE $50 EXTRA STATE AND FEDERAL TAKEN OUT OF EACH 2 WEEK PAY CHECK!!!

She is so proud of her REFUND of like $5,000 or $6,000!!!

LIKE SHE IS RIPPING OFF THE GOVERNMENT!!!

The only place to get info the 'offset' of your federal tax return is Debt Collection Services (DCS)at the US Dept of Education. NSLDS will only reflect your current loan status and if any remaining balance is due.

It usually takes about 12 weeks for DCS to credit your balance. If you call them you will be asked to update your info such as current address and phone number(s). Don't be shy about making the call if you have questions about where your money went. They handle hundreds of calls every day about offsets and you are entitled to know how your money was applied to your loans.

George had a point in that if you only owe a small balance now, adjust your withholding at work so that you can still make ends meet and then pay DCS with a smaller tax return.