One of the many great benefits of marriage is filing jointly for taxes.
Sure it may not sound that exciting, but you can take advantage of more deductions if you file jointly.
Even when you file jointly, both spouses are responsible jointly and individually for the taxes due and any penalties accrued.
However, there are three types of relief offered to couples.
The three types of relief available include innocent spouse relief, separation of liability, and equitable relief.
So how exactly do these types of relief work? With innocent spouse relief, if your spouse omitted items or screwed up your taxes in any way, you will not have to pay the interest or worry about penalties However, this only applies to the taxes, penalties, and interest that qualify for tax relief.
You will still be responsible for the items that do not qualify.
You will not be asked to figure out this amount yourself.
The IRS will determine it for you after you file Form 8857.
How do you qualify for innocent tax relief? You must meet certain requirements: You had to have filed a joint tax return that was not filed correctly by your spouse; at the time you signed your taxes, you had no knowledge the taxes were not done correctly; the IRS deems it would not be fair to hold you liable for the mistakes; the IRS will not grant innocent spouse relief if they believe you and your spouse transferred property to one another as part of a scheme.
If you don't like the idea of only one person carrying all the burden, you may qualify for separation of liability.
In short, you and your spouse split the amount you owe.
It's not a 50-50 split though.
Instead, you will only pay for what you are each responsible for.
Separation of liability is only available for unpaid liabilities.
Sadly, this doesn't apply to couples still happily married.
You must be no longer married or legally separated.
If you still lived with your former spouse for any time during the last 12 month period, you will not qualify.
Again, you will not be granted relief if the IRS believes transferred assets are part of a scheme or you had prior knowledge about the erroneous items.
Finally, there is equitable relief.
If you qualify, you will have relief from an understatement tax or an underpayment of tax.
The former is the difference between the amount of money that should have been shown on your return and the actual amount that you wrote on the return.
The latter is when you correctly report the amount of tax you owe but you have only paid for a portion of it.
You will only be eligible if you did not qualify for the previous forms of relief, you did not willingly commit fraud, and you can prove it is not fair to hold you liable.