Yes, they may. However, you can file as an "injured spouse" to protect your portion of any refund.
IRS Form 8379 lets you (the
"injured spouse") get back your portion of a jointly-filed refund if
it's seized or offset to pay your spouse's debt.
You must file jointly to use
this form. Also, filing an 8379 will delay your federal refund by up to 14
weeks.
To file this form in TurboTax:
- Open your return.
(To do this, sign in to TurboTax and click the orange Take me to
my return button.)
- In the
search box, search for injured spouse and then click the
"Jump to" link in the search results.
- Answer Yes to Do
you want to claim innocent or injured spouse relief? and carefully
follow the onscreen instructions.
Note: Pay close attention to the
screens, as some of them apply to innocent spouse relief, which is something else. Leave those
questions blank if you only want to claim injured spouse relief.
