To request a refund of your federal retirement contributions, file Standard Form 3106 if you were covered by FERS or Standard Form 2802 if you were covered by CSRS, and send it to the Office of Personnel Management once you’ve been separated from federal service for at least 31 days. The refund returns the retirement deductions withheld from your paychecks, with interest in some cases, but it permanently cancels the pension credit those years earned unless you later buy the service back.
Who Can Request a Refund
Federal law sets three conditions before OPM will pay out your contributions. You must be separated from federal service for at least 31 consecutive days. You cannot be working in a position subject to CSRS or FERS retirement deductions when you file. And you cannot be within 31 days of becoming eligible for an annuity.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8424 – Lump-Sum Benefits; Designation of Beneficiary; Order of Precedence The same rules apply under CSRS.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8342 – Lump-Sum Benefits; Designation of Beneficiary; Order of Precedence
The 31-day separation is meant to confirm you’ve genuinely left, not just moved between agencies. If you’re rehired into a covered position before the refund is paid, the application is voided. Federal contractor or consultant work does not count as re-employment, because those positions aren’t subject to CSRS or FERS deductions.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Refund Fact Sheet
The annuity-eligibility bar is where people get tripped up. If you’ve already worked long enough and are old enough to start collecting a pension, you cannot cash out the contributions instead. Someone with 30 years of FERS service at age 57 is already pension-eligible and won’t qualify for a refund. There is no deadline on the other end. If you separated years ago and never claimed your money, you can still apply.
Which Form to File and Where to Send It
FERS employees use Standard Form 3106.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions – FERS CSRS employees use Standard Form 2802.5U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions – CSRS One catch: if you were ever covered by FERS at any point in your career, use SF 3106 even when requesting a refund of CSRS deductions.
If you’ve been separated 30 days or fewer, submit the application to your former agency’s personnel office. After that, send it directly to OPM’s Retirement Operations Center.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Former Employees The mailing address is:
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 160177U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Contact OPM Retirement Services
Use certified mail with a return receipt. OPM will assign a claim number you can use to track progress. Double-check your Social Security number, dates of service, and direct-deposit information before mailing. Missing or wrong information is the most common reason applications stall.
You Must Notify Your Current or Former Spouse
Before OPM releases the money, you must notify every current and former spouse of your application. This is not optional. Federal regulations require it because a spouse may have a legal claim to a share of your retirement benefit, whether through a court order or survivor entitlement.8eCFR. 5 CFR 843.208 – Notification of Current and/or Former Spouse Before Payment of Unexpended Balance to a Separated Employee
The standard route is a signed acknowledgment on an OPM-provided form. If your spouse refuses to sign or you can’t reach them, you have two alternatives. You can submit affidavits from two people who witnessed your attempt to notify in person. Or you can give OPM the spouse’s current mailing address and let OPM send notification by certified mail; the refund won’t be released until OPM has the signed return receipt.8eCFR. 5 CFR 843.208 – Notification of Current and/or Former Spouse Before Payment of Unexpended Balance to a Separated Employee
When a Divorce Decree Blocks the Refund
A divorce decree or court-approved property settlement can do more than complicate notification. It can stop the refund entirely. If a court order awards your former spouse a portion of your retirement annuity or a survivor benefit, and paying out the refund would wipe out that entitlement, OPM must honor the court order.9eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits
A court order can also award a former spouse a specific share of the refund itself, in which case OPM splits the payment. OPM takes a strictly mechanical approach: it follows the plain language of any valid court order and won’t interpret ambiguous terms or negotiate between parties. If your divorce touched federal retirement benefits, expect OPM to enforce the decree exactly as written.
Taxes, Withholding, and the Rollover Option
How you receive the money changes what you keep. If OPM sends the taxable portion directly to you and it exceeds $200, federal law requires OPM to withhold 20% for income taxes before the payment reaches your account.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3405 – Special Rules for Pensions, Annuities, and Certain Other Deferred Income If the taxable portion is under $200, OPM pays it without withholding.11U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Can I Roll Over My Refund of Retirement Contributions?
On top of ordinary income tax, the IRS imposes a 10% additional tax on early distributions if you’re under age 59½ when you receive the money.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 558, Additional Tax on Early Distributions From Retirement Plans On a $20,000 refund to someone under 59½, that can mean losing $4,000 to mandatory withholding and owing more at filing time.
You can avoid both the 20% withholding and the 10% penalty by requesting a direct rollover into an IRA or another qualified plan, including the Thrift Savings Plan. The money moves from OPM to the receiving account without passing through your hands. If you take the cash first, you have 60 days to complete the rollover yourself, but you’ll need to replace the withheld 20% out of pocket to keep it from being taxed.11U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Can I Roll Over My Refund of Retirement Contributions? Most states with an income tax will also treat the distribution as ordinary income.
How Much You’ll Get Back
The refund equals your total personal deductions, plus interest in some cases. CSRS employees contributed 7%, 7.5%, or 8% of basic pay depending on their coverage category.13U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CSRS Information FERS rates depend on when you were hired:
- Hired before January 1, 2013: 0.8% of basic pay
- Hired during 2013: 3.1% of basic pay
- Hired on or after January 1, 2014: 4.4% of basic pay14U.S. Department of Commerce. Federal Employee Retirement System
Under FERS, the refund earns compounded annual interest only if your covered service totaled more than one year.15eCFR. 5 CFR Part 841 Subpart F – Computation of Interest The Treasury sets the rate annually. For 2026, it’s 4.25%.16U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Benefits Administration Letter 26-301 – Calendar Year 2026 Interest Rate Under CSRS, interest is included only if you had more than one but fewer than five years of creditable service, and it accrues at a flat 3%.17U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Former Employees With five or more years of CSRS service, you’re vested for a deferred annuity, which changes the calculation entirely.
What You Give Up
Taking the refund cancels the service credit tied to those contributions. If you return to federal employment, the years you previously worked won’t count toward computing your future annuity unless you buy them back.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Refund Fact Sheet
Under FERS, you need at least five years of creditable civilian service to qualify for any deferred retirement annuity.18U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Eligibility If you leave with three years and no plans to return, the refund costs you nothing because you weren’t vested anyway. If you leave with six years and take the refund, you’ve forfeited a pension you could have started collecting at 62 without ever coming back. With 10 or more years, you’d also give up the option to start a reduced annuity at your minimum retirement age, which ranges from 55 to 57 depending on birth year.19U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Is a Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) Plus 10 Annuity Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)?
Under FERS, the refunded service still counts toward meeting minimum service requirements if you return. It just won’t add to the dollar amount of your annuity.20U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Information – Service Credit The practical result is a smaller pension and a smaller survivor benefit for your spouse.
Buying the Service Back Later
If you return to federal service, you can restore the lost credit by making a redeposit. You owe the original refund plus interest compounded annually from the date the refund was paid. For 2026 the interest rate is 4.25%.16U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Benefits Administration Letter 26-301 – Calendar Year 2026 Interest Rate On a $10,000 refund taken five years ago, the redeposit can easily exceed $12,000.
Current federal employees file Standard Form 3108 through their agency’s human resources office. Former employees not currently in federal service send the form directly to OPM in Boyers, Pennsylvania.21U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Application to Make Service Credit Payment – FERS If you plan to retire within six months, don’t file SF 3108; OPM will give you the chance to make the payment when it processes your annuity.
Two Things This Refund Does Not Cover
Your Thrift Savings Plan account is separate. The retirement contribution refund covers only the mandatory pension deductions withheld from your pay. Your TSP balance has its own withdrawal rules, forms, and timeline.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Former Employees If you were automatically enrolled in TSP and want those specific contributions back, you generally have 90 days from your first automatic contribution to request that refund through the ThriftLine or your TSP online account, and the window closes if you change your contribution elections.22Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Contribution Refunds
Federal debts can also come out of your payment. Outstanding debts to the government, including unpaid post-separation health insurance premiums, defaulted student loans, and back taxes, can be withheld from your refund.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions – FERS The Treasury Offset Program matches federal payments against a database of delinquent debtors and can intercept OPM disbursements before they reach your bank.23Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Frequently Asked Questions for Debtors in the Treasury Offset Program If you owe a federal or state agency, expect the offset to happen automatically.