It depends. The Injured Spouse form determines how much of the refund is attributed to both spouses. Even if your wife didn't work or pay in any taxes, any amounts of refund that the IRS can attribute to you being able to file jointly and receiving a larger standard deduction, lower tax rates, as well as the impact her being a co-declarer can have on Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit are also considered. Naturally, if you made the money and had the tax withholdings, it is reasonable to believe that you are responsible for the majority of the refund. However, the IRS will assign some of the refund to her and continue to offset that portion. (However, if you live in a community property state, by default she is considered to provide half of the income and tax payments by community property laws. You would need to comment the state you live in to determine if you live in a community property state or not).
How much of the refund will be returned to you will depend entirely on the IRS, and it does take time. The IRS advises that the Injured Spouse can take 10-12 weeks or longer. But you should receive a good portion of the refund back.
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