Glossary

ACH

Automated Clearing House. ACH is an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States that processes large volumes of credit and debit transactions in batches. ACH credit transfers include direct deposit payroll and vendor payments.

Custodial state agency

The agency that sets up and maintains a payee’s direct deposit account information in TINS.

Debtor

An individual or other entity owing a debt to the state of Texas.

EFT

Electronic File Transfer — a batch process in which transactions process overnight in TINS. Errors are reported the next day on non-processed reports and on the PMTHIS screen in TINS.

Entity

The term includes (but is not limited to) an individual, a corporation, an organization, a government or governmental subdivision or agency, a business trust, an estate, a trust, a partnership, an association and any other legal entity.

Hold maintenance

Refers to actions performed for hold-related transactions including setting up, updating and releasing hold records. Processing is done by EFT or online entry in TINS.

Hold record

Information on a state debt in TINS.

Hold source agency

The agency owed a state debt that reports the debt to TINS.

ITIN

Individual Taxpayer Identification Number — assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for federal tax reporting by non-resident aliens who do not qualify for a Social Security number (SSN).

Issuing agency

The agency responsible for issuing state payments. The term is interchangeable with paying agency.

OAG

Office of the Attorney General aka Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Online entry

The process of entering payee direct deposit and hold records directly into TINS.

Offset

The process of reducing a payee’s state debt by applying their held warrants to the liability amount.

Overage

Any amounts remaining from offset warrants after the offset process has paid in full a payee’s state debt.

Payee

The term includes but is not limited to an individual, a corporation, an organization, a government or governmental subdivision or agency, a business trust, an estate, distributees of an estate, a surviving spouse, a trust, a partnership, an association and any other legal debtor that may receive payment(s) from the state. (NOTE: The term “payee” also includes individuals and other entities that do not owe a debt to the state of Texas, i.e., that are not “legal debtors.”)

Paying agency

The agency that initiates a state payment — interchangeable with issuing agency.

Payment

A state warrant or an electronic funds transfer (direct deposit).

Smart label

Based on the type of identification number keyed into a TINS screen data entry field, the field’s label customizes to appropriately describe the type of ID number entered (SSN, ITIN, etc.).

State agency

A board, commission, council, committee, department, office, agency or other governmental entity in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government. The term includes an institution of higher education but not a public junior college or community college.

State debt

Indebtedness to the state, tax delinquency, child support delinquency, student loan default or other debt that may be defined by a state law.

Student loan default

A failure to meet financial obligation of a loan guaranteed under Chapter 57, Education Code.

Tax delinquency

A delinquency in payment of either a tax to the state or a tax the Comptroller’s office administers or collects.

TIN

Texas Identification Number — a unique 11-digit identification number assigned to a payee by the Comptroller’s office when it issues state payments or records hold information in TINS.

TINS

Texas Identification Number System ― the electronic database maintained by the Fiscal Management Division of the Comptroller’s office which contains information on debtors and entities who will receive or have received payments from the state of Texas.

TINS online

The process of entering payee, direct deposit and hold records directly into TINS.

Warrant hold

The process whereby state payments issued to payees indebted to the state are held by the Comptroller’s office until the debt is satisfied.

Warrant hold statute

Any statute that prohibits the Comptroller’s office or other state agency from issuing or making a payment to a payee because of a state debt. Texas Government Code, Section 403.055, is the statutory authority allowing payments from state agencies to an entity to be held when that entity has been reported as having a state debt.

Warrant offset statute

Texas Government Code, Section 403.0551, is the statute that authorizes the Comptroller’s office to apply held state payments against debts to the state.