Spouse responsible for past IRS debt?

You can file a joint return and have him complete Form 8379 to file as an injured spouse. This protects his share of any tax refund.

"trish" wrote

Yes, unless you file Form 8379 Injured Spouse Allocation. It's like filing separate returns, allocating your income, deductions, exemptions, taxes and payments and his income, deductions, exemptions, taxes and payments. If it shows he gets a refund, they'll send that portion. Any refund allocatable to you is kept for your back taxes.

That'll work too, but you lose out some on tax breaks, so look at that form first.

Only if you file jointly and don't allocate the refund using that form.

It does, and the IRS has as much common sense as Congress gives them. Use that form to tell them how much of the refund (if any) is his, and how much (if any) is yours.

-- Paul Thomas, CPA snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net

All best wishes

No. However, if you live in a community property state, "his" assets can be at risk.

You include an "injured spouse" claim with your return. The refund is apportioned so that only your share of the refund is applied to your separate debt. See the 1040 instructions.

You'll probably pay more tax in total, but the only way to be sure is to run the numbers.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

--No--

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Yes, but you can include form 8379 to allocate his/your portions of the JOINT return refund. He will get his money. Your share will be offset to your old tax bill. This process add's a few weeks delay in the processing but at least he will get his refund.

Only from your return, none from his, the problem arrises, in that it may be better to file jointly then sepparately

If you & your husband agree to just let the offset -IN FULL- occur now, it will speed up your repayment of the old taxes, in the long run this will help the family unit {You, Him & your Dependents} by bringing you out of tax debt sooner, something to consider, unless he has made plans for his share of refund already.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (trish) posted:

Yes, Trish, there is a Santa Claus. It's known as the Request for Innocent Spouse Relief. When Married Filing Jointly and one spouse has an obligation, the innocent one can be relieved of responsibility. Details are available in Publication 971, Innocent Spouse Relief, and Form 8857 should be filed. Bill

The "injured spouse" scenario might apply. See Form 8379 and related instructions, also see Pub 17 discussion of injured spouse. The rules for community property states are different, and I have been told that in such situations you are better off married filing separate. There are drawbacks to MFS status, but in the end the spouse might receive a significantly larger refund for the current year under this scenario, in a community property state. For future years, YMMV.

-Mark Bole

Wrong provision. Innocent spouse applies when the couple filed a joint return and the spouse is, at the moment, liable for the tax. That's not the case here, where injured spouse applies.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

[OP (trish) and previous response of mine are omitted.] This is to correct my advice:

The above information pertains to a different type of situation, and the other responders were correct in referring you to Form 8379, Injured Spouse Relief -- which specifically addresses your case (prior federal debt owed by only one spouse). Sorry for the misdirection.

Bill

It is possible that I may find myself in this same situation. My gf and her ex have a joint back tax liability and are currently repaying it, but her refund is always retained and goes towards the debt. If we marry, I would be the innocent spouse. A strategy we had considered is to reducing her withholding and increasing mine - that is, withholding enough to cover our joint taxes for the year, but then retaining all of our refund (it would be from my withholding, not hers). Any potential problems with this scenario?

-- John D. Goulden

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It would, but you still need to include the Form 8379, to secure the Injured Spouse Relief -YOU- are entitled to.

As others have pointed out here, you would be the injured, not innocent, spouse (though you may also be innocent - no judgments here.) Since the injured spouse process is not exact and often falls through the cracks, you would do better if you both decrease your withholding to generate little or no refund to be offset.

Right, my bad...we're working on "innocent spouse" for her (her ex did some tax-related stuff that she wasn't aware of that got them into trouble) and if we eventually wed before that's cleared up I would be the "injured spouse." Hopefully I have it straight now.

-- John D. Goulden