But what if you are now separated and you are not aware of the erroneous reporting or missing tax payments by your ex-spouse? What if one spouse has duped the other spouse information reported to the IRS? These …show more content…
The IRS added the innocent spouse relief option to its Internal Revenue Code to relieve one spouse's responsibility for paying any of the understatement of taxes owed. It does not even require separation to qualify for the "Classic" innocent spouse relief.
Requirements:
1. The two of you filed a joint return that has an understatement of tax or omitted income earned.
2. The erroneous items in the tax return must be due to your spouse and you were not aware about them at the time you put your signature on the joint return. An “erroneous item” includes credits, deductions, exemptions, asset details etc.
3. You will not qualify for this form of relief if you are the cause of tax liability that was created.
You can apply for innocent spouse relief by filing Form 8857 as soon as you become aware of a federal tax liability that you believe should only be the responsibility of your spouse/ex-spouse. You must request relief within two years from the date after the first IRS attempt to collect unpaid taxes from