When a person is convicted of a crime, he often will be required to pay money to the victims of his crime. This money, which is used as financial compensation for damages, is known as restitution. If a person fails to pay his restitution, the state of Michigan may be allowed to garnish his tax refunds.
Restitution
After a person has been released from incarceration or placed on probation for his crime, he will often be placed in the situation of having to earn money to pay back his victim. In the state of Michigan, hundreds of thousands of people owe restitution. This money is considered a debt like any other. This means the government has the right to aggressively collect it like any other debt.
Garnishment
One of the most aggressive means of collecting money from an individual is garnishment. Generally, a debtor will have his wages--the money he makes at his job--garnished, but sometimes other income streams will be garnished, too. In Michigan, garnishment is allowed for both debts to private creditors and to the government.
Taxes
Michigan is one of the few states that allows both private creditors and the government to garnish a person's tax refund for an unpaid debt. However, in Michigan, as in other states, a creditor cannot garnish a person's actual taxes, only the refund.
Considerations
While the state of Michigan may technically be allowed to garnish a person's income tax refund, whether it will actually do so is another matter entirely. Garnishments cost money and the state will likely not pursue a person with garnishment--either of wages or tax refunds--who has not paid it, particularly if the person is indigent, as the collection may be unsuccessful.
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