As used in this part:

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Terms Used In 36 CFR 1011.1

  • administrative offset: includes , without limitation, the offset of federal salary, vendor, retirement, and Social Security benefit payments. See 36 CFR 1011.1
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.

Administrative offset or offset means withholding funds payable by the United States (including funds payable by the United States on behalf of a State Government) to, or held by the United States for, a person to satisfy a debt owed by the person. The term “administrative offset” includes, without limitation, the offset of federal salary, vendor, retirement, and Social Security benefit payments. The terms “centralized administrative offset” and “centralized offset” refer to the process by which the Treasury Department’s Financial Management Service offsets federal payments through the Treasury Offset Program.

Administrative wage garnishment means the process by which a Federal agency may, without first obtaining a court order, order a non-Federal employer to withhold amounts from a debtor’s wages to satisfy a delinquent debt.

Agency or Federal agency means a department, agency, court, court administrative office, or instrumentality in the executive, judicial or legislative branch of the federal government, including government corporations.

Certification means a written statement received by a paying agency or disbursing official that requests the paying agency or disbursing official to offset the salary of an employee and specifies that required procedural protections have been afforded the employee.

Compromise means the settlement or forgiveness of all or a portion of a debt.

Creditor agency means any Federal agency that is owed a debt and includes a debt collection center when it is acting on behalf of the Presidio Trust.

Debt means any amount of money, funds or property that has been determined by an appropriate agency official to be owed to the United States by a person. As used in this part, the term “debt” does not include debts arising under the Internal Revenue Code.

Debt collection center means the Treasury Department or any agency or division designated by the Secretary of the Treasury with authority to collect debts on behalf of creditor agencies.

Debtor means a person who owes a debt to the United States.

Delinquent debt means a debt that has not been paid by the date specified in the Presidio Trust’s initial written demand for payment or applicable agreement or instrument (including a post-delinquency payment agreement) unless other satisfactory payment arrangements have been made.

Disposable pay means that part of an employee’s pay that remains after deductions that are required by law to be withheld have been made.

Employee or Federal employee means a current employee of the Presidio Trust or other Federal agency, including a current member of the Armed Forces, Reserve of the Armed Forces of the United States or of the National Guard.

FCCS means the Federal Claims Collection Standards, which were jointly published by the Departments of the Treasury and Justice and codified at 31 CFR parts 900-904.

FMS means the Financial Management Service, a bureau of the Treasury Department, which is responsible for the centralized collection of delinquent debts through the offset of Federal payments and other means.

IRS means the Internal Revenue Service.

Paying agency means any agency that is making payments of any kind to a debtor. In some cases, the Presidio Trust may be both the paying agency and the creditor agency.

Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization, state or local government, or any other type of entity other than a Federal agency.

Private collection contractor means a private debt collector under contract with an agency to collect a non-tax debt owed to the Presidio Trust.

Salary offset means a type of administrative offset to collect a debt owed by a Federal employee from the current pay account of the employee.

Tax refund offset means the reduction of a tax refund by the amount of a delinquent debt owed to the Presidio Trust.

Treasury Department means the United States Department of the Treasury.

Treasury Offset Program means the Treasury Department’s program for withholding funds payable by the United States to a person to satisfy a debt owed by the person utilizing the Financial Management Service’s system that compares information about payments with information about debts.