Can they take my husband return for the remainder of my unpaid student loans?

[pryanka17]

We file for the first time together and I have $3,400 remaining to pay and our return is  $5,700 are they going to take what I owed and send the rest.. Or are they going to keep everything and does he have to file an ingured spouse form in order to get the rest of the refund?

[AlanT · Accepted solution]

If you file jointly, yes they can take your entire income tax refund to satisfy your student loan debt.  If you do nothing, they will take what you owe and send the balance.  

However, your husband can file as an injured spouse.  Filing as an injured spouse will allow him to receive his portion of the refund. 

Form 8379 lets you (the "injured spouse") get back his portion of a jointly-filed refund if it's seized or offset to pay your debt.

You must file jointly to use this form. Filing an 8379 will delay your federal refund by up to 14 weeks.

To file this form in TurboTax:

1. Open your return. (To do this, sign in to TurboTax and click the Take me to my return button.)
2. In the search box, type injured spouse and then select the Jump to link in the search results.
3. Answer Yes to Do you want to claim innocent or injured spouse relief? and carefully follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: Pay close attention to the screens, as some of them apply to innocent spouse relief, which is different. Leave those questions blank if you only want to claim injured spouse relief.