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My wife owes back taxes from before we were married, if I file married with her will my refund go to pay those

 
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DDollar
Expert Alumni

My wife owes back taxes from before we were married, if I file married with her will my refund go to pay those

Yes,if you file jointly the IRS will offset your tax refund and apply it towards the back taxes owed. You could file Jointly and also file Form 8379 Injured Spouse Allocation.  Or you could file separately, but In most cases, you're better off filing a joint return and including the injured spouse form.  There are a number of tax credits that are not available if filing separately. 

Also, if you live in a community property state, joint items such as income actually need to be split evenly between the two of you.  Filing separate returns in a community property state can add up to be a real headache, see IRS pub 555 if this applies to you: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Publication-555,-Community-Property-1

If you file Form 8379 with your original return, it may take up to 11 weeks to process an electronically-filed return or up to 14 weeks if you file a paper return. If you file Form 8379 by itself after a joint return has been processed, then processing will take about 8 weeks. To avoid delays, be sure to follow the Form’s instructions.

See the following links to form 8379 and its instructions.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8379.pdf

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf



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