Who is considered an injured spouse?

An injured spouse is an individual who has filed jointly with a spouse and received no refund because their spouse owed a debt that is being collected by either IRS or the Bureau of Fiscal Service and some or all of their refund was applied to that debt.

Who qualifies injured spouse?

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.

How does IRS determine injured spouse?

You may be an injured spouse if you file a joint return and all or part of your portion of the overpayment was, or is expected to be, applied (offset) to your spouse's legally enforceable past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, or a federal nontax debt, such as a ...

What does injured spouse allow?

What is an 'Injured Spouse' Claim? An injured spouse claim can help you get back your part of a tax refund from a joint tax return. It applies where the IRS has intercepted the refund to offset a debt owed by your spouse but not by you.

What is the difference between innocent spouse and injured spouse?

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.

What is an injured spouse when dealing with the IRS?

How many years can you claim injured spouse?

Is there a limit to the number of years you can file an Injured Spouse form (8379) - due to an outstanding student loan? There is no limit to the number of year. The instructions for the form specifically state "You must file Form 8379 for each year you meet this condition and want your portion of any offset refunded."

What are the four types of innocent spouse relief?

These include Individual Shared Responsibility payments, business taxes, Trust Fund Recovery penalties for employment taxes, household employment taxes, and any other taxes deemed to exist outside of your relief.

What is the IRS innocent spouse rule?

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.

Why does injured spouse take so long?

Why does it take so long? Because injured spouse must be hand processed and anything hand processed in the IRS takes time - a lot of time.

Can you file injured spouse if you didn't work?

No, she cannot be an "injured spouse" if she has no income. The refundable credits are based on your earned income as well as your qualifying child, so they are not "her" credits or even partly her credits.

Can I file injured spouse for stimulus check?

Generally, you are an injured spouse if your share of your tax refund as shown on your joint return was, or is expected to be, applied against your spouse's past-due federal debts, state taxes, or child or spousal support payments.

Is a wife responsible for husband's tax debt?

Any tax debt your spouse incurred before you got married belongs to your spouse alone. If the IRS intercepts your tax refund, you can apply for Injured Spouse Status and get it back. You may be liable for tax debt incurred during your marriage – unless you take steps to limit your liability.

What happens if you marry someone who owes back taxes?

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.

Can the IRS take my refund if my husband owes back taxes?

If your spouse owes money to the IRS and you file jointly, you both become responsible for each other's taxes, penalties, debt, and levies. This means your tax refund can be put toward your spouse's back taxes, even if you weren't responsible for the debt that was incurred.

Can the IRS take my refund if my husband owes child support?

Yes. His refund can possibly be garnished for past due child support. You may be able to file an Injured Spouse claim on Form 8379.

Do I have to give my ex my tax returns?

A: The answer is “maybe” and the first thing to review would be your existing court order. If it calls for production of tax returns, etc., then that is the controlling order. If not, she has no per se right to your financial documents, and the court rules state that a party has to ask to open post-trial discovery.

Do I have to file injured spouse every year?

Yes. Every year you file as married filing jointly, with a spouse who owes debt, you will need to file the form.

Should I file injured spouse or married filing separately?

The injured spouse should file Form 8379 either with the married couple's jointly filed return (with "Injured Spouse" in the upper left corner), amended joint tax return, or by itself if the joint return has already been filed. A separate Form 8379 must be filed for each tax year.

How do you know if your injured spouse form was accepted?

If you filed the Form 8379 by itself after a joint return has been processed by the IRS, then processing will take about 8 weeks. If it's been longer than the number of weeks mentioned above, you can call the IRS to check the status of it.

What is a non liable spouse?

A spouse who filed a joint return, but was not responsible for the erroneous item that caused the tax debt, may be able to claim innocent spouse relief.

What is non obligated spouse?

If a married couple files joint tax returns and one of them owes the state any type of debt, including but not limited to child support payments, student loans, back taxes, the other spouse can indicate himself/herself as a non-obligated spouse, which means no part of his/her refund will be used to pay down the debt ...

Can I file single if I am married?

If you are married and living with your spouse, you must file as married filing jointly or married filing separately. You cannot choose to file as single or head of household. However, if you were separated from your spouse before December 31, 2020 by a separate maintenance decree, you may choose to file as single.

When I get married will my husband's debt become mine?

In common law states, debt taken on after marriage is usually treated as being separate and belonging only to the spouse who incurred them. The exception are those debts that are in the spouse's name only but benefit both partners.

How do you qualify for innocent spouse relief?

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 ...

Can the IRS garnish your spouse's wages?

The IRS can always garnish your spouse's wages if you are married and filing jointly. The IRS can and likely will garnish both of your wages in that situation. If you and your spouse are married and filing separately, the IRS cannot garnish your spouse's wages.