Innocent Spouse, Joint Liability & the IRS in Houston, TX and throughout Harris County
The focus of my practice is civil and criminal taxpayer representation, and see many taxpayers who find out about a tax debt that truly belongs to their spouse (or former spouse) in Houston, Texas. There are a few basics you need to understand about IRS federal tax liabilities and innocent spouse claims.
Do Not Just File Joint Returns with your Soon-to-be Ex
Most taxpayers realize that there are tax savings when filing a joint tax return with their spouse. However, in signing a joint return with their spouse they are accepting responsibility for any liability that flows from that return, both on the return and any additional assessment made later, such as from an IRS audit.
Unfortunately most family law attorneys do not think about the potential tax issues when negotiating an agreement with the other side in a divorce. It is simply a race to file any missing tax returns with a paragraph in the divorce agreement that states the spouse (usually the husband) ages to be liable for any tax liability.
Later on, when the tax either goes unpaid or there is an IRS exam that creates an additional tax liability, we receive calls from the frantic “innocent spouse” about why the IRS is pursuing them? Can’t the IRS read their agreement and see they are not responsible for this?
A few basics you should understand:
- The IRS is not bound by a written agreement the couple entered into, as statute creates joint and several liability for both spouses. The spouse who was not supposed to be responsible pursuant to the court agreement can sue the former spouse, but it will not prevent the IRS from pursuing them.
- The outcome will be determined by how much the former spouse knew about the tax liability.
The spouse (or former spouse) who wishes to seek innocent spouse relief from the IRS will need to show that the issue with the return was the responsibility of their spouse and they did not know or had reason to know about the understatement of liability. We represent many taxpayers seeking Innocent Spouse treatment, including Appeals and United States Tax Court.
The best approach is to simply consider these issues BEFORE you file the returns with the IRS.
If you have any questions about IRS Innocent Spouse cases or other IRS tax issues in Houston, Texas or elsewhere please feel free to contact me at (832) 699-1070 or by email at Charles.Zagara@gmail.com
Charles Zagara
9950 Westpark Drive, Suite 430
Houston, TX 77063
Ph. (832) 699-1070
Houston, TX • Fort Bend County, TX • Harris County, TX
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