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What is innocent spouse relief?
Normally, both tax payers are jointly and individually responsible for the tax and any interest or penalty due on the joint return even if they later divorce. One spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due even if all the income was earned by the other person. In some cases, a spouse will be relieved of the tax, interest, and penalties on a joint tax return. This is known as Innocent Spouse Relief.
To qualify for the innocent spouse relief:
1)You must file a joint return and the return has an understatement of tax owed due to an erroneous item of your spouse; and
2) Establish that at the time you filed it, you did not know and had no reason to know that there was an understatement of tax owed; and
3)Further, it must be unfair to hold you liable for the understatement of tax taking into account all facts and circumstances.
Separation of liability
In order to separate your liability from your spouse, you need to show that:
1)You filed a joint return and that it has an understatement of tax owed due, in part, to an erroneous item of your spouse; and
2)You must no longer be married, legally separated, or have not been a member of your spouse's household for an entire year before you file for relief; and
3) If the IRS establishes that you actually knew of the item giving rise to the understatement, then you are not entitled to relief to the extent of the actual knowledge.
Sometimes a spouse cannot meet the innocent spouse or separation of liability rules. In that case the spouse may seek relief on equitable grounds. |
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