The Senate Civil Law Committee heard HB 1358, sponsored by Sen. Steele and Sen. Broden, on garnishment of state tax refunds. This bill provides that if a debt has been reduced to a judgment in Indiana and the judgment has not been satisfied, set aside, or discharged in bankruptcy, the judgment creditor may garnish a state tax refund otherwise due to the debtor. It specifies the procedures that the judgment creditor must follow in obtaining the garnishment from the Department of State Revenue and allows a writ of garnishment to be electronically filed with the Department of State Revenue.
The bill was amended to exclude from garnishment debt subject to a repayment plan if the repayment plan has not been breached. The amendment also exempts 50% of a joint tax refund from garnishment if there is no objection to the garnishment, and establishes a procedure to exclude from garnishment that portion of a tax refund attributable to a spouse of the debtor who is not obligated to pay the debt. The amended bill passed 8-0.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/house/1358.