AUGUSTA – While about 360,000 Maine taxpayers will be getting federal income tax rebate checks of up to $600 apiece later this summer, tens of thousands will not.

In some cases, the state will get the cash instead.

The money will have been grabbed by state government to pay the debts owed to a wide range of state agencies and to pay back child support obligations.

“We are taking advantage of the program and will be running a computer match with the names we have and those the [Internal Revenue Service] says will be getting a check,” said Tony Neves, executive director of Maine Revenue Services. “We will be seeking payments owed for state taxes as well as other debts owed the state.”

Neves said he is not sure how many of those eligible to get rebates will see the money diverted to the state treasury. He said an estimated $550,000 was collected from federal income tax refunds this year to pay state obligations – the first year the state could divert federal refunds. That is expected to nearly double next year.

A study by Washington-based Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that of the approximately 610,000 tax filers in Maine, 162,000 do not qualify for any rebate.

Another 87,000 will get a partial rebate. If that is less than $150, it is not subject to seizure by the state.

Congress set minimums for getting the rebates. For example, a couple must have $12,000 in taxable income after all exemptions, deductions and tax credits to qualify. For a single person, the minimum is $6,000.

Many low-income families will get no rebate at all because they had no tax liability.

“There are a lot of areas where people may owe the state a debt; for example, a fine that is owed the courts or a licensing fee that has not been paid,” Neves said.

Neves said just about any debt that is owed the state can be collected through the computer matching agreement between the state and federal governments.

“If you owe it, and your debt has been legally determined, we will try and collect it,” he said. “This is money that otherwise could end up costing other taxpayers more in taxes because this debt was not collected.”

Neves said it is difficult to estimate how many Mainers getting rebates owe other obligations to state agencies. His agency is compiling a database that will be compared to the IRS list of those eligible for a rebate check. Where there is a match, the IRS will divert the money to the state.

“Until we get the list from the IRS, we won’t know exactly how many are a match to our caseload, but I can tell you, based on what we have received from the tax refund program, it will be substantial,” said Stephen Hussey, director of the Support Enforcement and Recovery Unit in the state Department of Human Services.

In the past fiscal year, the unit had more than 60,000 cases and recovered nearly $10 million through the federal income tax match system. In total, more than $92 million was recovered from parents delinquent in child support payments.

“About a third of what we get is used to pay back [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] grants to the state and federal government,” Hussey said. “But most goes to the custodial parent and children.”

He said his unit has been using the match program to divert income tax refunds to past-due child support for several years. He said a good estimate is that 30,000 to 35,000 rebate checks will be diverted for child support later this summer.

“I think this is a wonderful use of the tax refund money,” said Laura Fortman of the Maine Woman’s Lobby. “This is really unexpected money, and I would hope the noncustodial parent would be happy that this goes to reduce their obligation.”

Another area where rebate checks will be diverted is to pay for defaulted student loans.

Officials at the Finance Authority of Maine said they have submitted a list of 3,113 Mainers who have defaulted on their student loan payments. They owe more than $22 million, and there is no estimate how much of that will be recovered from the income tax rebate program.

The IRS says the first checks will be mailed the week of July 23, but it will take until the end of September to mail all the checks.

Taxpayers will receive a letter by mid-July describing the rebate process and telling them how much they will receive or why they are not eligible to receive a rebate.

The letter also will have a notice that if the taxpayer owes child support or debts to the government, all or part of the rebate could be withheld to meet that obligation.