Setoff File Status

upcoming setoff file - tuesday, March 2, 2010 (#3 of 22 for 2010)

setoff file guidelines

January:

• The North Carolina Department of Revenue does not send any setoff files to the Clearinghouse in January - tax payer refunds are being processed and setoff during January and will be provided in the first setoff file on the first Tuesday in February. The North Carolina Education Lottery may send files during January but the Clearinghouse does not process until the first Department of Revenue file is received in February.

February through December:

• The Clearinghouse conducts a thorough reconciliation on the first setoff file from the North Carolina Department of Revenue to ensure that all data is correct before proceeding with the following steps.  Remember, all January setoffs are in this first February setoff file.

• The reconciliation for the first few setoff and lottery files of the year are normally so large and may require additional processing time and verifications before being available to the participating local governments. However, the files are normally available no later than the Friday of the same week the file is received. Beginning in May the Clearinghouse normally has all processing completed by Thursday.

• The Clearinghouse begins the standard operations explained in the steps below:

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Step	Setoff Step	Status	Date(s)	Estimated Completion Date (If not ON SCHEDULE) or SPECIAL COMMENT
1	a) The N. C. Department of Revenue processes tax refunds against debtors from the Clearinghouse database.        b) The N.C. Education Lottery reviews all winners of over $600 against the Clearinghouse database	COMPLETED	Monday, February 15 through Sunday, February 28
2	The N. C. Department of Revenue mails the "Notice of Individual Income Tax Adjustment" letters to the debtors that were setoff.   This letter references the Clearinghouse toll-free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone number (877) 843-0330.	COMPLETED	Tuesday, February 16 through Monday, March 1
3	Debtors setoff receive the mailing notices and call the Clearinghouse (IVR) to inquire on all local governmental entities who submitted a claim against their tax refund	COMPLETED	Wednesday, February 17 through Wednesday, Macrh 3
4	Participating local governmental entities submit electronic data files to the Clearinghouse via the client software or ASCII/Excel files	COMPLETED	Monday, February 8 through Friday (5:00 p.m.) February 19
5	The Clearinghouse processes all local governmental entity data creating an updated database from data sent by Friday 5:00 p.m.	COMPLETED	Saturday through Monday:  February 13-15 and 20-22
6	The Clearinghouse transmits a replacement database to North Carolina Department of Revenue who forwards a copy to the N.C. Education Lottery. Only debts $50.00 or more that have passed their Compliance Date and have not passed the Expiration Date are sent	COMPLETED	Tuesdays, February 16 and 23
7	a) The N. C. Department of Revenue transmits an electronic tax refund setoff file to the Clearinghouse                          b) The N. C. Education Lottery transmits an electronic lottery setoff file to the Clearinghouse	COMPLETED	Tuesday, March 2
8	The Clearinghouse reconciles information from the N. C. Department of Revenue and N.C. Education Lottery, using the electronic data files from each	IN PROGRESS	Tuesday, March 2 through Thursday, March 4
9	a) The N. C. Department of Revenue electronically transfers all tax refund setoff funds to N.C. Capital Management b) The N. C. Education Lottery electronically transfers all lottery setoff funds to N.C. Capital Management	COMPLETED	Friday, March 5
10	The Clearinghouse updates the master database to reflect all setoffs received in the electronic file from the N. C. Department of Revenue and N.C. Education Lottery	COMPLETED	Friday, March 5
11	The Clearinghouse faxes a report to N.C. Capital Management providing the associated Capital Management account numbers and deposit amounts for each local governmental entity that received funds. Additionally,  the Clearinghouse faxes a copy of the above report to the N. C. League of Municipalities and the Association of County Commissioners	COMPLETED	Friday, March 5
12	The Clearinghouse transfers the setoff data files (including Excel file of all setoffs) to the secure folder for each local governmental entity in the file	COMPLETED	Friday, March 5
13	The Clearinghouse transmits electronic mail notifications and instructions to each local governmental entity that various files are available for download	COMPLETED	Friday, March 5
14	Local governmental entities proceed with the downloads from their secure folders, using either the Web Browser or the Client software and processes the setoff results	IN PROGRESS	Friday, March 5 UNTIL COMPLETION
15	The Clearinghouse updates the Statistics information on the website	COMPLETED	Monday, March 8
	Last Status Update		Tuesday, March 9 - 8:30 A.M.

Notes:

Step 2: Department of Revenue mails an official letter informing the debtor they were setoff

Step 3: Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) process:

• Debtor is prompted for their Social Security Number

• Provides the Local Governmental Entity Name,  Contact Name and Telephone Number (from the online Participation Form) of ALL local governmental entities that submitted a claim against their tax refund

• No longer is the debt amount provided. This was a source of concern for the caller and the Department of Revenue so it was removed. 

Step 6: The Clearinghouse performs the following edits:

• Compliance Date - only debts sent to the North Carolina Department of Revenue and Education Lottery are those having a Compliance Date that has lapsed. Future Compliance Dates are held until that date passes.

• Expiration Date - only debts sent to Department of Revenue having an Expiration Date that have not yet lapsed (today or in the future)

• Debt Amount - only debts $50.00 or more are sent to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Note: the Clearinghouse does NOT combine debts, this must be done by the local governments submitting debts

Step 10: The Clearinghouse updates the master database:

• Debt Amounts updated to reflect the tax refunds and lottery setoff(s)

• Indicators set to ensure that setoff rules enforced: only one transaction fee ($15) per Social Security Number per debt, per local governmental entity, per Tax Year

Step 11: The Clearinghouse faxes a report to N.C. Capital Management:

• The funds are normally available on the following Tuesday

• If there are questions or issues involving the access of these funds please call N. C. Capital Management Trust at (800) 222-3232