My husband oweand in student loans, if we file jointly,that would message up my refund. If we file separately I wonto get the eic for the kids. What do I do?

[aweeks80]

My husband oweand in student loans, if we file jointly,that would message up my refund. If we file separately I wonto get the eic for the kids. What do I do?

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

There is a form called the 8379 that you can file in your situation.  It's called an Injured Spouse form and it's designed to allow the spouse who is not responsible for the debt to receive the share of a refund due that's based on their income, and not the income of the spouse who owes the debt.

If you file jointly, you can add this form to your return.  At the end of your return, you can find it by typing the words Injured Spouse in the Find field in the upper right, then select the Jump To.

If you live in a community property state, it may not help you much because half your income is considered your spouse's.  You can read more about that when you're going through the screens for the credit.

Filing with this form usually can add up to14 weeks to your processing time, and, given that the IRS is not going to begin processing returns with an Earned Income credit until 2/15, you would not receive any refund amount until probably sometime in May.