calculating the refund??

[char]

So my husband and I file a joint return. Our federal refund was supposed to be $11,424. I never got the refund on my deposit date but a day later got the letter saying the refund was being used to offset my husbands debt to Social Security. He received SSI payments as a child but it was discontinued at age 21. We were not aware that the payments from age 18 to age 21 was under a “continuance of benefits” so when he was deemed no longer eligible, he was asked to repay the money in total of $20,000. I filed (mailed in) the injured spouse form within a day of receiving the letter of offset. My question is this: if the refund I am owed is what I would get if we filed married separate, what happens to the rest of the money?
My husband did not work much and his return would have been only $317.00 My return is calculated at $3,877. So where is the other $7,547 going??? If I was eligible to file as head of household, My return would have been $10,308 . Does this mean that there was over $7,000 in credits etc that neither of us are entitled to and Social Security gets to keep it anyway??

[Cinimod]

If you file a injured spouse form, it should be “married filing joint” you will receive the most of it because his income was low. Ssa would only keep his federal portion of the taxes.

[Author]

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