Tax Representation
Innocent Spouse

Innocent Spouse

Some Truthful History

IRS has always had a policy regarding Innocent Spouses. Unfortunately, it was ridiculous. In the past, the Innocent Spouse had to prove that they did not benefit from either the underreported income or the overreported expenses. That meant that the Innocent Spouse had to be living in a vacuum. These types of cases generally involved one spouse who was the breadwinner and the other spouse with a much lesser job or stayed at home. Generally, the "Guilty Spouse" also handled tax matters and simply had the Innocent Spouse sign a tax return blindly. Of course the Innocent Spouse benefited from any income that was brought into the home. Of course, IRS threw out case after case of Innocent Spouse using this archaic criteria.

What's New

Finally, with the advent of the new IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Innocent Spouses can clear their names. The criteria has changed to be much more reasonable. Unfortunately, IRS never understood just how many of these cases were lurking in the nation. They have been overrun and are experiencing major delays as of this writing. They have stated that this is only a temporary situation and they will be resolving these within short periods of time.

How To Do It

The procedures are simple….completion of a Form 8857. Request for Innocent Spouse Relief. It is submitted to either the Revenue Officer handling your case or the Cincinnati Service Center. You must submit information showing why the liabilities should be separated, innocent spouse relief should be granted, or equitable relief should be granted.

Can It Be Done by Anyone

Of Course. In fact IRS encourages individuals to file their own Innocent Spouse Forms. If you win, then you can be sure that you handled your case properly. If you lose, you will never know if you could have made a better case that would have properly shown you to be Innocent! Someone who actually was a Revenue Officer and who has lived with the Internal Revenue Manual can be of real help.