Who is an Innocent Spouse, 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.
In Order to to Qualify for Innocent Spouse with the IRS you must actually be an Innocent Spouse.
This means
1) You must have filed a joint return
2) The unpaid liability is attributed to erroneous items of your spouse
3) You did not know of or had no reason to know of the erroneous item or underpayment
In other words if your spouse tells you he is under reporting his business income and you agree to the joint return, you are not innocent. If your income is under reported, you are not innocent. If you know the return showed a balance due and you know payment wasn't made you MIGHT be an innocent spouse. If payments were misreported and you aren't aware of it, you might be an innocent spouse.
The divorce decree cannot make you an innocent spouse in the eyes of the IRS but it could help.
Economic Hardship can help make you an Innocent Spouse.
Completing form 8857 accurately, to your best advantage and supplying the correct documentation is very important. The IRS does not like granting innocent spouse relief
There are 3 different provisions for innocent spouse relief. I will cover them in upcoming blogs.Most taxpayers realize that there are tax savings when filing a joint tax return with their spouse.
1) You must have filed a joint return
2) The unpaid liability is attributed to erroneous items of your spouse
3) You did not know of or had no reason to know of the erroneous item or underpayment
In other words if your spouse tells you he is under reporting his business income and you agree to the joint return, you are not innocent. If your income is under reported, you are not innocent. If you know the return showed a balance due and you know payment wasn't made you MIGHT be an innocent spouse. If payments were misreported and you aren't aware of it, you might be an innocent spouse.
The divorce decree cannot make you an innocent spouse in the eyes of the IRS but it could help.
Economic Hardship can help make you an Innocent Spouse.
Completing form 8857 accurately, to your best advantage and supplying the correct documentation is very important. The IRS does not like granting innocent spouse relief
There are 3 different provisions for innocent spouse relief. I will cover them in upcoming blogs.Most taxpayers realize that there are tax savings when filing a joint tax return with their spouse.
In a nutshell 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
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