Can the entire amount of a state and federal tax refund be taken for child support that is owed?

If you owe a substantial amount of child support dues and have been defaulting on your payments, then the IRS can seize your entire federal and state tax refund in an effort to ease the child support arrearages you owe. This is one of the few instances in which the IRS can seize your entire refund in order to settle something you owe. They can also use your refund to settle long standing student loan debt, that way you don't just use your refund for personal expenditures when you still have a loan to pay back. Lastly, the IRS can also use your refund for tax arrearages without the normal legal procedures being used. They cannot take your refund to settle a debt to a creditor. That would be your debt that you would have to pay off on your own.