The IRS can withhold a joint refund if one spouse owes child support. A spouse not required to pay these amounts may receive all or a portion of the couple's refund by filing form 8379 (injure spouse limitation). to qualify for the refund the injured spouse must have income and payments including refundable credits reported on the joint retun
the IRS calculates the injured spouse refund as follows:
1) each spouse's tax is calculated as if they filed separately
2) the injured spouse's separate tax is divided by the total tax from step 1. (With you having no income this would likely be zero)
3) the percentage from step 2 is applied to the couple's actual joint tax liability to get the injured spouse's share (so if 2 is zero this is zero)
4) the injured spouse payments are subtracted from their tax in step 3 (so you should be getting your share of refundable tax credits)
