My husband and I got married in April. He is in state prison. He has fines and costs. I don't know if my return will be garnished if I file married filing jointly. Should I file an injured spouse form

[J-nae]

Or should I roll the dice? If I should file the form, what are the correct options to choose for my situation? My return was not previously garnished, so none of the presented options seem to apply. I

[Carl]

Do you live in a community property state?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

The only debts that can be collected from a federal tax refund are: federal tax debts, state tax debts, back child support, other federal debts (like student loans) and repayment of unemployment insurance (if he was in a situation where he owed a repayment and didn't make it).

Any other state matters, such as fines, court costs, and restitution, might be collectible from a state tax refund but can't be collected from the federal tax refund.

As such, the injured spouse form won't help you unless he has one of the listed types of debt.  You would have to check with your state to see if such debts can be collected from a joint tax refund and if the state has a similar form to the injured spouse form.