It’s Not My Fault! What Qualifies Me for Innocent Spouse Status?

Sometimes, one spouse really is “the bad guy.”

If your husband or wife (or ex) has tried to pull a fast one on the IRS, you really shouldn’t get in trouble for their misdeeds. 

But with the IRS, of course, you are guilty until proven innocent, so here’s what you need to do to distance yourself from your shady partner. 

Recognize the difference between “injured” and “innocent” spouse. The two sound similar, but they’re really very distinct complaints. 

Injured Spouse

An injured spouse is one whose joint income tax refund was held back and applied towards their spouse’s past-due debts (which may include taxes, defaulted student loans, or child support). In order to qualify as an injured spouse, here’s what you must do: 

• You must have paid federal income tax or claimed a refundable tax credit (like the Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit) on the joint return.
• You must not be legally obligated to pay the past-due debt.
• You must not be subject to community property laws. (This depends on the state where you live, and you can learn more about that in IRS Publication 555.) 
• File Form 8379, the Injured Spouse Allocation. (We can help you with this). You can file this form electronically, or include it with your paper tax return. You can also file it by itself, apart from the tax return. The IRS then calculates the amount of return that you are due.

Innocent Spouse

On the other hand, an “innocent spouse” is one who signed a joint income tax return, but wasn’t aware that their spouse understated the tax liability (by underreporting income or claiming improper credits or deductions, for instance). If you didn’t know that they underreported their taxes, and you had no reason to know, then obviously it would be unfair to expect you to share in that debt. 

To file for innocent spouse relief, you must fill out Form 8857, which you can find here. We can help you with this, too. You can read Publication 971, Innocent Spouse Relief (PDF) to learn more. 

If you have any questions about injured or innocent spouse relief, give us a call at 844-841-9857, or schedule a free consultation here.