It is good that you filed a Married filing separate return this year, but for the years that you filed jointly, you are responsible for the tax liability for any income your spouse did not report. To keep you from being responsible for this tax, you will need to complete Form 8857 to apply for innocent spouse relief. This relief is for people who filed a joint return but were unaware that their spouse deliberately underreported their income. Applying for this relief will protect you from additional taxes, penalties, and interest when the IRS later finds out about any more unreported income. The Innocent Spouse Relief can protect you from any years that you were unaware of your spouse's gambling debts.
To file Form 8857, Innocent Spouse Relief in TurboTax:
- Open or continue your return.
- Under Federal in the left menu, select Other Tax Situations.
- Under Other Tax Forms, select Start or Revisit next to Report an injured or innocent spouse claim.
- Answer Yes, then fill in the year(s) requested on the following screen, and select Continue.
- On the next screen, fill out Form 8857 (be sure to follow IRS instructions for completing this form).
- When finished, select Continue.
- The interview will turn to injured spouse questions, which may or may not apply. Many filers seeking innocent spouse relief also seek injured spouse relief.
The injured spouse Form 8379 allows you to get a portion of your refund that was taken but only if you filed a married filing joint return and the only one that owes the debt is one spouse owes the debt. In your case because the debt is owed from returns that were filed jointly you both owe the tax.
