By requesting innocent spouse relief, you can be relieved of responsibility for paying tax, interest, and penalties if your spouse (or former spouse) improperly reported items or omitted items on your tax return. ... The IRS will figure the tax you are responsible for after you file Form 8857.
As explained by the IRS, a person applying for innocent spouse relief must meet three requirements: (1) that the applicant filed a joint return that has an understatement of tax as a result of erroneous items attributable only to their current or former spouse; (2) that the applicant did not know and had no reason to ...
Understanding the Innocent-Spouse Rule
To be eligible for this relief, the taxpayers must meet the following criteria: They must have filed a joint return with an erroneous understatement of tax responsibility relating directly to their spouse. They must have had no knowledge of the error.
Form 8857: Request for Innocent Spouse Relief is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form used by taxpayers to request relief from a tax liability involving a spouse or former spouse. Generally, couples filing a joint tax return are both, jointly, responsible for any tax obligation.
The "injured spouse" on Form 8379 refers to a spouse who has been affected by the application of a joint tax refund to offset their spouse's debts. Because they have been financially harmed ("injured") by this use of the refund, that spouse is able to reclaim their share of the refund from the IRS.
An injured spouse claim is for allocation of a refund of a joint refund while an innocent spouse claim is for relief or allocation of a joint and several liability reflected on a joint return.
You need to file the form for every tax year in which your refund was affected and for which you want to obtain injured spouse relief. You have three years from the due date of the original return (including extensions) or two years from the date that you paid the tax that was then offset, whichever is later.
How long will the process take? When a Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, is filed with the IRS, it may take up to 6 months before a determination is made. During the processing time, the Service is requesting your tax information and contacting the non-requesting spouse.
If you are married to someone who owes back taxes, you can file a Form 8379, which allows you to retain your own refund even if you filed jointly. If the IRS accepts your claim as an injured spouse, you will have access to your own tax refund without having it go toward your spouse's debt.
Unfortunately, yes, the IRS can seize your house or assets, even if your spouse is the one who owes money to the IRS. This only happens if the debt was incurred during a year where you filed jointly on your tax return.
By requesting innocent spouse relief, you can be relieved of responsibility for paying tax, interest, and penalties if your spouse (or former spouse) improperly reported items or omitted items on your tax return. ... Innocent spouse relief only applies to individual income or self-employment taxes.
Yes, the IRS can attach liens to joint and shared property.
If you're married to someone who owes child support—and you're not responsible for the debt—you can file an "Injured Spouse Allocation" form with the IRS. If you submit this properly, the IRS may allow you to keep your portion of the tax refund.
A: No. If your spouse incurred tax debt from a previous income tax filing before you were married, you are not liable. ... Your spouse cannot receive money back from the IRS until they pay the agency what they owe. If your spouse owes back taxes when you tie the knot, file separately until they repay the debt.
The Additional Child Tax Credit is a refundable credit that you may receive if your Child Tax Credit is greater than the total amount of income taxes you owe. For instance, if you're eligible for a $2,000 Child Tax Credit and your taxes are only $1,000, you may add the remaining $1,000 credit to your refund.
Amounts Accrued During Marriage – Any debts accrued to the IRS during a marriage in years that both spouses filed joint tax returns are equally owed to the IRS. That is to say, both spouses are liable for those debts.
If you made an innocent spouse request that the IRS denied or didn't fully allow, you can request an appeal if you meet these criteria: You filed a Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief PDF.
The IRS can collect from either one of you, or both of you, in any amount that is convenient for them. ... If the IRS does hold you responsible for the debt you can file for innocent spouse relief or equitable relief. Or you can sue to collect from your ex, if that was your agreement.
Abandoned spouse rules allow a taxpayer who was abandoned by her spouse to file as head of household. Congress enacted these rules because otherwise the separated parent may be forced to use unfavorable tax rates if she must file married filing separately.
If you are the spouse who requested relief (known as the requesting spouse) and the IRS made a preliminary decision denying or only partially allowing your request, you may appeal the decision by filing Form 12509, Statement of Disagreement, within thirty days of receiving the preliminary determination letter from the ...
The injured spouse's share of the overpayment is computed by subtracting that spouse's share of the joint liability, determined in accordance with the separate tax formula, from that spouse's contribution of credits toward the joint liability. The amount credited cannot exceed the amount of the joint overpayment.
Time Needed To Process Form 8379
Generally, if you file Form 8379 with a joint return on paper, the time needed to process it is about 14 weeks (11 weeks if filed electronically). If you file Form 8379 by itself after a joint return has been processed, the time needed is about 8 weeks.
Yes, you can file Form 8379 electronically with your tax return. Generally: If you file Form 8379 with a joint return electronically, the time needed to process it is about 11 weeks. ... If you file Form 8379 by itself after a joint return has already been processed, the time needed is about 8 weeks.
If you filed tax returns jointly when married, both spouses are liable to the IRS. That means they can collect 100% of the debt (tax, penalties, and interest) from either spouse. This is true after divorce, even if the spouse that is obligated per the divorce decree, fails to pay.