Form 8379

[Kristielynn]

My husband suddenly passed away 2 weeks after we filed our taxes for 2017. I actually got a refund that yr. But irs amended the taxes for that yr and I been owing.  I was only married 4 months when I did joint return. My refund been all going to offset and I still owe $900. How do I go about filling form 8379?  I already filed my taxes. If I get approved would I be eligible for all refunds they have taken from me the past 7 yrs

[Vanessa A]

No.  You would not get it all back from the last 7 years.  The injured Spouse form is to be filed within 3 years of the date of the tax return or 2 years of the date of the payments whichever is later.  There is a three year statues of limitations on filing the Injured Spouse form, therefore since you are still paying, you may be able to get the last 3 years back, but not the full 7 years. If accepted, this would also allow your refunds going further to stop being garnished for his debt. 

[Kristielynn]

I really want to thank you for answering. I been searching for answers.  I already did the penalty abatement.   I have just one more question.  There are 3 different kinds of forms I can choose from. Would the injured spouse be the right one for me ? I already filed my taxes for this year and I haven’t had a refund since 2016 because it’s been offset.  How do I go about filing the form? Could I do it on turbo tax?  Once I finally get these answers I might finally be able to put this horrible situation behind me.  I greatly appreciate you

[LeticiaF1]

There are two main types of tax relief for spouses:

1. Injured spouse relief- this one will relieve your refund from going to your spouse's debts.  
2. Innocent spouse relief- helps you from paying taxes if your spouse did something wrong on a tax return that you weren't aware of, and now you owe taxes. 

From reading about your situation,‌ the injured spouse relief is the one that would be best in your situation. Since you have already filed your returns, you can file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation by mail. ‌Follow the instructions and enter information from your tax returns on the form, you also need to attach forms like W2s. ‌You have to complete a Form 8379, for each year separately. ‌Once you are done, mail Form 8379 to the IRS Service Center where you filed your original return.

Tax relief for spouses

Injured spouse relief

@Kristielynn 

[Opus 17]

I think more clarification is needed.

Injured spouse form 8379 is used when you are married filing a joint return, and your refund is being offset for your spouse's past debt from before the marriage. 

Innocent spouse form 8857 is used when you are being held responsible for a debt due to a joint tax return, where you argue that even though you signed a joint return, you did not know about the errors because your spouse hid them from you.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/innocent-spouse-relief

If this is a debt due to a joint return that was adjusted by the IRS, your spouse has since died and you are still being collected for the error from the joint return, that is a case for innocent spouse, not injured spouse.   If you are remarried and your new spouse is being held responsible for your old debt, your new spouse can file for injured spouse relief.  

Innocent spouse generally must be filed within 2 years of the notice of deficiency, so you may be too late.  But you can use the same form to ask for equitable relief or separation of liability, which might reduce what you owe to what you already paid.  

[Kristielynn]

Thank yall so much for responses. I married my husband November 2016.  We went to a tax person to do out taxes end of February to file 2016 taxes. He passes away march 2, 2017. In April I got the refund of about $1,200.  In 2019 I filed my tax return and that’s when I started not getting my refund because of taxes me and my husband owed for that yr. I really don’t understand how we owed when I got a refund that yr.  So every year since 2019 IRS takes my refund. I paid over $2000 so far   I still owe $895. I did a penalty abatement few weeks ago. It took off $499.  I have $420 in interest which leaves $895. So I been really looking into this because I filed my 2024 taxes and my refund is just enough to pay off what I owe. Which leaves me with nothing again.   I greatly appreciate all the advice but still confused which form I have to fill out. And I’m also confused and not understanding the form for each year.  So I have to fill out same form for every year

[Opus 17]

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@Kristielynn wrote:

Thank yall so much for responses. I married my husband November 2016.  We went to a tax person to do out taxes end of February to file 2016 taxes. He passes away march 2, 2017. In April I got the refund of about $1,200.  In 2019 I filed my tax return and that’s when I started not getting my refund because of taxes me and my husband owed for that yr. I really don’t understand how we owed when I got a refund that yr.  So every year since 2019 IRS takes my refund. I paid over $2000 so far   I still owe $895. I did a penalty abatement few weeks ago. It took off $499.  I have $420 in interest which leaves $895. So I been really looking into this because I filed my 2024 taxes and my refund is just enough to pay off what I owe. Which leaves me with nothing again.   I greatly appreciate all the advice but still confused which form I have to fill out. And I’m also confused and not understanding the form for each year.  So I have to fill out same form for every year

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If you are not married now, injured spouse is not for you. 

If you owe taxes from 2016 when you filed a joint return, and you are not married now, you still legally owe the taxes because that's what you agreed to when you filed a joint return.  

For 2017 you should also have filed a joint return with your spouse (because that is allowed when your spouse dies in the middle of the year), unless you decided to file separately, but then someone would have to file a separate return for your spouse for their income from January-April.   So likewise, you could owe from 2017 if you made errors or left things off, and filed a joint return. 

If you think you should not pay the tax you owe because the reason you owe for 2016 is that your husband or your accountant was doing something wrong that they were hiding from you, that would be the time to request innocent spouse relief.  It's too bad you don't understand the IRS adjustments.  You can get your transcripts for 2016 and look them over, although you might need someone to help explain them to you.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

You only file the innocent spouse form once.  The IRS decides whether or not to reduce what you owe, and then you owe whatever you owe.  

If you agree you owe the tax from the joint 2016 return because you agree there was a mistake made, you should probably just pay it off.  You can do that online at any time.

www.irs.gov/payments

(When my mother was starting to get dementia, she left a pension off the my mom and dad's tax return.  The IRS figured it out after a while and they owed significant back taxes.  It was just an innocent mistake, but there was no arguing that they owed it, it was their legit tax bill, so they paid.  If you could figure out why you owe for 2017--what the mistake was--that's where you should have started in 2019.)

[Kristielynn]

[PII image removed] 

[Edited 02/13/25 | 08:45 am PST]

[Kristielynn]

Those are the transcripts from that year. And I didn’t work in 2017   I didn’t start work for 1 or 2 yrs after he passed away. I am remarried now does that make a difference with anything. I was only married to him 1 month in 2016.  I don’t think I should have been reliable for any of this.   

[Opus 17]

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@Kristielynn wrote:

Those are the transcripts from that year. And I didn’t work in 2017   I didn’t start work for 1 or 2 yrs after he passed away. I am remarried now does that make a difference with anything. I was only married to him 1 month in 2016.  I don’t think I should have been reliable for any of this.   

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There's nothing in the transcript I can see that explains why the additional tax was assessed, but they did send a letter in Sept 2019.  Did you get it?

There's a difference between an account transcript and a return transcript.   If you requested one, try requesting the other and see if it is different.  I don't know which transcript would specifically have the details of why the tax was assessed or if that is only in the notice they sent.  

If you are remarried, your current spouse can file an injured spouse form to try and protect part of your refund.  But if you legitimately owe the tax, delaying payment is just going to increase the tax and penalties. 

[Opus 17]

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@Kristielynn wrote:

Those are the transcripts from that year. And I didn’t work in 2017   I didn’t start work for 1 or 2 yrs after he passed away. I am remarried now does that make a difference with anything. I was only married to him 1 month in 2016.  I don’t think I should have been reliable for any of this.   

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You signed a joint return.  Under the law, you are jointly responsible for (liable) for everything on that return, and everything not on the return (whether innocent error, deliberate fraud, or something in between.)

You had 2 years from the notice to file the innocent spouse relief form, that would be September 2021.  I don't know if there is anything you can do about it now, but you can try.  

[Kristielynn]

I was looking at transcripts. And it had showed no returned filed on deceased person for 2017. Was it possible that I was was suppose to file one for him 

[Kristielynn]

I wanted to thank u for answering my question on Wednesday.  After 8 yrs of owing IRS , I finally figured out why I owed    I did not file my husband’s taxes for the 2 month he worked in 2017.  I called IRS so many times in the last 5 years trying to get answers on why I owed and they could never tell me why. Every time IRS would tell me it was from 2016 taxes. After this tax year I will have paid about $3,000.