deceased spouse 2018 1099 income

[dpena]

I just received a notice from the IRS requesting payment for my deceased husbands $4,463 1099 income from a part time job in 2018. 

We are (were) both under 65, no dependents, I filed Married filing Jointly, my income was $80K and filed my tax return with no issues.  There was no estate, no probate, no legal representation, etc. I never saw any tax statement from his employer and I had no way of knowing how much he made from that job.  I'm hoping this qualifies me as an "innocent spouse".  This $4,463 omission is going to cost probably $900 in ridiculous  "late" fees.  I should note that I've been out of work since Covid hit back in March, also. 

Do i have any recourse?  Thanks

[Anonymous]

possibly here are the requirements for innocent spouse relief

You must meet all of the following conditions to qualify for innocent spouse relief:

• You filed a joint return that has an understatement of tax that's solely attributable to your spouse's erroneous item. An erroneous item includes income received by your spouse but omitted from the joint return. Deductions, credits, and property basis are also erroneous items if they're incorrectly reported on the joint return
• You establish that at the time you signed the joint return you didn't know, and had no reason to know, that there was an understatement of tax and
• Taking into account all the facts and circumstances, it would be unfair to hold you liable for the understatement of tax (the IRS has the final say)

For such relief send back the notice with form 8857 - innocent spouse relief.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8857.pdf 

instructions

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8857.pdf 

Where To File
Do not file Form 8857 with your tax return or the Tax Court.
Instead, mail it to one of the following addresses.
If using the U.S. Postal Service:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 120053
Covington, KY 41012
If using a private delivery service:
Internal Revenue Service
201 W. Rivercenter Blvd., Stop 840F
Covington, KY 41011
Alternatively, you can fax the form and attachments to the IRS at
855-233-8558.

[dpena]

Thanks for replying. I wasn't sure because It's not necessarily my spouses 'erroneous' item; he died in Dec of 2018 and we never discussed income, nor was he around when I filed my taxes in March of 2019, and as I said, I never received any income statements from his employer. And frankly, it was my first tax return as a married person, so  it never occurred to me to include his income.  

So then what is a form 5495 (Request for Discharge From Personal Liability Under Internal Revenue Code Section 2204 or 6905)?