Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun, held that refundable earned-income credits may be intercepted to satisfy past-due child support assigned to a State and affirmed the Ninth Circuit. The Internal Revenue Code expressly classifies excess earned-income credits as overpayments, and neither the statutory language nor the credit program’s purposes justify excluding them from interception. Justice Stevens dissented alone. Although he accepted the majority’s grammatical reading, he doubted that Congress intended to divert benefits from low-income families to state treasuries without mentioning that change in the legislative history.