Question

It might be appropriate for a married taxpayer filinga joint return to file an injured spouse claim if:

1 the taxpaer is unable to pay the tax liability because their spouse has suffered some type of injury
2. the joint overpaymnet was applied to a prior tax liability on a joint tax return filed by the taxpayer and their spouse
3 there is an understatement of tax due because of ommitted income of the taxpayer's spouse
4.the joint overpaymnet was applied to their spouse's past-due child support

When the IRS offsets a married couple's joint refund becuase one spouse defaulted on a federally guaranteed student loan the

1.non-defaulting spouse should request innocent spouse relief
2.taxpayers should submit a joint offer in compromise
3.defaulting spouse should requiest a certificate of non attachmnet
4.non defauting spouse should request relief as an injured spouse

Answer 1

It might be appropriate for a married taxpayer filing a joint return to file an injured spouse claim if:

4. the joint overpaymnet was applied to their spouse's past-due child support

A taxpayer is considered an injured spouse when a joint overpayment (refund) was/is expected to be applied to a past due obligation of the other spouse.

The following debts apply for this purpose:

* Past-due federal tax
* Child or spousal support
* Federal non tax debt (such as a student loan)
* State income tax

When a joint return is filed, the IRS doesn't distinguish between the partners when collecting tax dollars from either of them, even if the spouse’s debt existed well before the marriage. The IRS has the legal right to offset some or all of a refund to apply to unpaid financial responsibilities such as: federal taxes, State income taxes, state unemployment compensation debts, child or spousal support payments, Federal non tax debt, such as defaulted student loans

When the IRS offsets a married couple's joint refund because one spouse defaulted on a federally guaranteed student loan the

4.non defaulting spouse should request relief as an injured spouse

Any federal tax refunds that are payable to a couple that is filing their taxes jointly is also subject to a tax offset regardless if only one person owes that debt. This means if your loans are in default, your spouse’s tax refund will also be withheld. Once the tax offset happens, the spouse can file an “injured spouse” claim with the IRS to retrieve their portion of the offset that was withheld.