Ex husband and I owed taxes, the divorce decree stated that he pay a larger portion back, mine was fulfilled last year when the IRS kept my return Can I keep this years?

[jmekosteez]

We owed a total of about $15k.  I was to pay $4100 and my federal return of $4936 was kept last year so my portion is more than paid.  Is there any way I can have the IRS NOT with hold my return this year?  It's going to be a pretty hefty one which will wipe out a large amount of what is still owed.  I know that could be handled after the fact in court but that sounds so unpleasant.  Can I somehow get the divorce decree on file with IRS so that he pays the remainder and my refund comes to me?

[Bsch4477]

You can try to protect your liability by filing an innocent spouse form.  The IRS will not get involved in divorce agreements or court judgments. 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-relief/help/what-is-an-innocent-spouse-and-how-does-it-differ-...

[rjs · Accepted solution]

The IRS is not bound by your divorce decree. They won't pay any attention to it. As far as the tax law is concerned, if your tax debt was from joint returns that you filed while you were married, you and your ex-husband are equally responsible for the full amount of the debt. The IRS will continue to take any refund you get and apply it to the total debt, until the full amount is paid.

You will have to talk to your divorce lawyer about how to settle this between you and your ex. The IRS is not going to help you.

Innocent spouse relief does not apply to your situation. That's for situations where your spouse cheated on a joint return, and you were not aware of the cheating.

There is also something called an injured spouse form, but that doesn't apply to your situation either. The Injured Spouse Allocation form can only be filed with a joint return, when only one spouse is responsible for the past debt. It protects the other spouse on the joint return, who is not responsible for the debt. But in your case you are legally responsible for the debt, and anyway you are not filing a joint return.

[jmekosteez]

Thank you for this! I had heard if anything it could be settled in court but that sounds so painful.

One last thing, would Equitable Relief apply to this situation at all if I were to file it later this year with IRS, after the outstanding amount is paid off (completely by my returns)?  

It’s tough because there were certain things in the divorce decree that were done with the understanding that this would be paid off primarily by him.  It’s not the end of the world but I don’t want to give up if there’s a chance  (and keeping it out of court).

[Bsch4477]

@rjs is correct. The IRS won’t help you. You have to settle this between the two of you or in the courts. 

[jmekosteez]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the replies.