Tax Lawyer Robert Wood “Beware IRS Pushback On Innocent Spouse Relief” (Forbes)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:46PM
(Forbes) If your spouse—current or ex—squirreled money away in Switzerland or didn’t report consulting fees or gambling winnings, is it your tax problem too? If you filed joint tax returns the answer is yes, and that can be painful—financially and otherwise. Who’s innocent or guilty may seem irrelevant given today’s no-fault divorce.
Yet when it comes to the IRS, it counts big-time. If you’re married, you don’t have to file joint tax returns but most people do. In fact, only about 5% of married taxpayers file separately. It’s worth thinking critically about this. See Consider Tax Filing Status Carefully.
After all, by filing jointly, you are both fully liable, even if your spouse earned 100% of the income and handled all the finances. If your spouse dies, goes to prison, flees the country, or simply divorces you and disappears with no forwarding address, you can be left holding the bag. Your spouse could take 100% of the income and disappear, leaving you with 100% of the tax.
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