What is Innocent Spouse Relief?
If you owe the IRS money because of your spouse and you were not involved in what is owed you will not be liable for the balance.
Did something like this happen to you?
Did your spouse lie on your joint return? Do you owe the IRS money and is there anything you can do? Do you worry about your personal liability from the taxes on a joint tax return? Did your ex-spouse report the wrong income, not report income at all, or claim improper deductions to the IRS?
Joint and Individual Liability
When you file a joint return with your spouse, each spouse is jointly and individually liable for the entire amount of tax owed based on that return. In other words, the IRS can go after either spouse to collect the full amount of tax due including penalty and interest. Unfortunately, this also true if a couple divorces and the divorce decree states that one of the spouses are liable for taxes due. Innocent spouse is very difficult to get accepted because the IRS takes the view that you knew about the tax problem and you have to prove that you did not. Three different Innocent Spouse Relief provisions.
First, Relief for Innocent Spouse
You want to attempt this type of relief if your spouse understated the taxes owed. This can be from a mistake, unreported income or deductions that were not allowed. To qualify for this you need to prove you did not know about the tax problem and you could not have known. You can qualify for this if you are still married or divorced.
Second, Seperation of Liability
This is exactly how it sounds. When you file a joint return and you want to seperate what you are liable for and what your former spouse is liable for, you would attempt this type of Innocent Spouse Relief. In order to qualify for this you must no longer be married, legally seperated or lived apart for the last 12 months.
Third, Equitable Relief from Liability
If you do not qualify for the previous to Innocent Spouse Relief provision you may qualify for this relief. To qualify for unpaid tax, you need to show that when the return was filed, you did not know and had no reason to believe that the tax would not be paid, and you thought the tax was paid.
To get this relief you need to download an 8857 form from the IRS. Make sure to attach a statement to the request saying why you qualify. BE VERY CAREFUL, there is a statute of limitations of 2 years for Innocent Spouse Relief and Seperation of Liability. That means you have 2 years from the date the IRS started to collect this from you to file an innocent spouse request. However, the IRS recently changed the rules for Equitable Relief from Liability where you do not need to file within the 2 year period.
To better understand if you qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief please Contact us by calling 888-965-3829 or visit us at www.wtaxhelp.com.
If you owe the IRS money because of your spouse and you were not involved in what is owed you will not be liable for the balance.
Did something like this happen to you?
Did your spouse lie on your joint return? Do you owe the IRS money and is there anything you can do? Do you worry about your personal liability from the taxes on a joint tax return? Did your ex-spouse report the wrong income, not report income at all, or claim improper deductions to the IRS?
Joint and Individual Liability
When you file a joint return with your spouse, each spouse is jointly and individually liable for the entire amount of tax owed based on that return. In other words, the IRS can go after either spouse to collect the full amount of tax due including penalty and interest. Unfortunately, this also true if a couple divorces and the divorce decree states that one of the spouses are liable for taxes due. Innocent spouse is very difficult to get accepted because the IRS takes the view that you knew about the tax problem and you have to prove that you did not. Three different Innocent Spouse Relief provisions.
First, Relief for Innocent Spouse
You want to attempt this type of relief if your spouse understated the taxes owed. This can be from a mistake, unreported income or deductions that were not allowed. To qualify for this you need to prove you did not know about the tax problem and you could not have known. You can qualify for this if you are still married or divorced.
Second, Seperation of Liability
This is exactly how it sounds. When you file a joint return and you want to seperate what you are liable for and what your former spouse is liable for, you would attempt this type of Innocent Spouse Relief. In order to qualify for this you must no longer be married, legally seperated or lived apart for the last 12 months.
Third, Equitable Relief from Liability
If you do not qualify for the previous to Innocent Spouse Relief provision you may qualify for this relief. To qualify for unpaid tax, you need to show that when the return was filed, you did not know and had no reason to believe that the tax would not be paid, and you thought the tax was paid.
To get this relief you need to download an 8857 form from the IRS. Make sure to attach a statement to the request saying why you qualify. BE VERY CAREFUL, there is a statute of limitations of 2 years for Innocent Spouse Relief and Seperation of Liability. That means you have 2 years from the date the IRS started to collect this from you to file an innocent spouse request. However, the IRS recently changed the rules for Equitable Relief from Liability where you do not need to file within the 2 year period.
To better understand if you qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief please Contact us by calling 888-965-3829 or visit us at www.wtaxhelp.com.
