Innocent Spouse
Relief from joint tax liability.
Do you need relief from your spouse's taxes because it would be unfair to hold you liable for the taxes?
If your spouse or former spouse improperly reported items or omitted items on a jointly filed tax return, you may be relieved of liability for paying the tax, interest and penalties. If Innocent Spouse relief is granted, these unpaid taxes and penalties can be collected on from your spouse or former spouse.
There are in three types of innocent spouse relief, two based on statutory provisions that allow review in the U.S. Tax Court and one based on equity principals that is reviewed and granted by the IRS. Until Innocent Spouse Relief is granted, the IRS can collect from either you or your spouse. Collection activity will cease from the time your request for Innocent Spouse Relief is filed until such time as your request has been reviewed and granted or denied.
There are a series of conditions that must be satisfied in order to obtain Innocent Spouse Relief. In general, you must have filed a joint tax return with your spouse or former spouse and you establish that at the time of signing the return, that you did not know and had no reason to know that there was an understatement of tax.
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