§ 1710.103 Definitions. *Administrative charges* are those amounts assessed by the Board to cover the costs of processing and handling delinquent debts due the government.
*Administrative offset* means withholding money payable by the United States Government to, or held by the government for, a person to satisfy a debt the person owes the United States Government.
*Agency* means any agency of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government, including government corporations.
*Centralized salary offset computer matching* describes the computerized process used to match delinquent debt records with federal salary payment records when the purpose of the match is to identify federal employees who owe debts to the federal government.
*Creditor agency* means the agency to which the debt is owed, including a debt collection center when acting on behalf of a creditor agency in matters pertaining to the collection of a debt.
*Debt* and *claim* are used synonymously to refer to an amount of money, funds, or property that has been determined by an agency official to be owed to the United States from any person, organization, or entity, except another federal agency. For the purposes of administrative offset under 31 U.S.C. 3716, the terms “debt” and “claim” include an amount of money, funds, or property owed by a person to a state (including past-due support being enforced by a state), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
*Debt collection center* means the Department of the Treasury or other government agency or division designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, with authority to collect debts on behalf of creditor agencies.
*Delinquent debt record* refers to the information about a debt that an agency submits to Treasury when the agency refers the debt for collection by offset in accordance with the provision of 31 U.S.C. 3716.
*Disbursing official* means an official who has authority to disburse federal salary payments pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3321 or another law.
*Disposable pay* means that part of current basic pay, special pay, incentive pay, retired pay, retainer pay, or in the case of an employee not entitled to basic pay, other authorized pay remaining after the deduction of: ( 1 ) Any amount required by law to be withheld;
( 2 ) Amounts properly withheld for federal, state, or local income tax purposes;
( 3 ) Amounts deducted as health insurance premiums;
( 4 ) Amounts deducted as normal retirement contributions, not including amounts deducted for supplementary coverage; and
( 5 ) Amounts deducted as normal life insurance premiums, not including amounts deducted for supplementary coverage.
*Employee* is any individual employed by any agency of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government, including government corporations.
*FCCS* means the Federal Claims Collection Standards jointly published by the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice at 31 CFR parts 900 through 904.
*Hearing official* means an individual responsible for conducting any hearing with respect to the existence or amount of a debt claimed or the repayment schedule if not established by written agreement between the employee and the Board, and who renders a decision on the basis of this hearing.
*Paying agency* means the agency that employs the individual who owes the debt and authorizes the payment of his/her current pay.
*Salary offset* means an administrative offset to collect a debt under 5 U.S.C. 5514 by deduction(s) at one or more officially established pay intervals from the current pay account of an employee without his or her consent.
*Treasury* means the Department of the Treasury.
*Waiver* means the cancellation, remission, forgiveness, or non-recovery of a debt allegedly owed by an employee to an agency as permitted or required by 5 U.S.C. 5584, 5 U.S.C. 8346(b), or any other law.