Injured Spouse???

[Illinois Parent]

Two years ago, married filing joint, taxes were confiscated to pay off the spouse's student loan that was incurred years before the marriage. Divorce proceedings are now pending, can I file something somewhere to get back a portion of those taxes? I heard something about the "Injured Spouse", what does that mean, how do I go about this and is this legal since at the time we were married, filed jointly and all that. I dont want to do anything illegal or dishonest, but, what is and is not marital debt has suddenly become a big deal.

The other question is the spouse filed for 2001 as single, filing at a higher married rate, and claimed the house. Doing that, I had to file single, and got reamed. If he had filed jointly, the overall tax return would have been higher, but of course, he would have had to split that, increasing my tax return. I dont know that he would have ended up with anything less, but I definitely did. Can I have this adjusted or re-filed? What does it cost to do that? And then would I have to file a motion to get that difference paid to me or does the IRS pay me and take it back from him?

Sorry for the convulted questions, but I am way out of my depth here and any help would be appreciated.

 

[abezon]

1. You can file an injured spouse form for 1999. The IRS will think about it for a couple months, then send you a check.

2. Who was living in the house? Who paid the mortgage and taxes? You could itemize yourself and claim the same expenses, and let the IRS apportion the deductions. Be VERY up front about what you're doing. File it on a 1040X and add the Schedule A. Point out on the 1040X that your spouse claimed the deductions, but you think you should get to take them since you lived in the house and paid all the expenses. (If spouse paid them you're out of luck.)

You can't make him file jointly. Get it back in the property settlement.

 

[loku]

I agree, it sounds like you do qualify for injured spouse relief, which means that you should get the refund if you file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation. You can download the form with instructions at www.irs.gov.

 

[roamer5]

If feasible, you and your spouse do have the option of using the 1040X to file a joint return.