Spouse Filed a Joint Return Without Consent
10 posts across 3 communities in the last 30 days; 80% from r/tax.
“What state are you living and working in? Do you own a home? Also note that in the event you divorce or revoke the election, it cannot be elected a second time.”
“The first and really the only question is why are they even filing joint or otherwise?”
“You're taking my comment out of context. OP had specifically asked: "Is there any way out of this? Looking into Innocent Spouse Relief but the paperwork looks like a total nightmare and I'm terrified of filling out wrong and getting rejected. Anyone been through this? How do you…”
Multiple posts highlight difficulties with tax filing, including foreign currency gains, late filings after divorce, and navigating complex marital status implications. A recurring theme is communication challenges and adversarial relationships during the process.
SOURCES (60)
“There’s other legal reasons that are far more valuable for being married than a live in partner that are way beyond tax. In a vacuum sure. Hawaii has no inheritance tax so you’re all knotted up there [re: Better tax-wise to stay unmarried or get…”
“You understand that SE tax on whatever portion of $9K happened pre-separation is less than what a lawyer would charge for "hello", right?”
“you can file jointly and claim injured spouse to get your share of the refund and avoid her balance due”
“The only benefit to you would be to get half of her refund, but what makes you think she's due one? My experience with people who have $9K of net income is that they almost never pay estimated taxes so they end up owing SE tax on their returns. You didn't mention any dependents so there won't be any refundable credits she could claim.”
“Through 2022, filing single for your husband was appropriate (assuming he was not married to someone else). Here is something to consider: If your husband did not itemize his taxes, it may also be beneficial in terms of refunds to amend 2023 to 2025 (making some assumptions). Apply for an ITIN for you with the amended 2023. Make a 6013(g) election to file jointly with a non-resident spouse, also with the 2023 tax return (you are not a resident for tax purposes, but your husband is). This is assu”
wait til you're both working and have lower student loan payments
“YES. When you have two adults with significantly different incomes (his $100k, yours zero), it makes a fairly significant difference (positive) to your total tax liability. However, when you have two adults with more similar incomes, it can result in zero change, or even more tax, depending on how the numbers play out. Assuming your family's only income is $100k in taxable wages, and you guys take the standard deduction, if he files Head of Household he takes $24,150 in standard deduction, f”
“That isn't how I took it but I can see what you think that is what was meant. Maybe the OP will come back and clarify.”
“They are literally asking what the advantages are to getting married. If they were already married then they wouldn’t have a decision to get married or not.”
“Is that a spousal lifetime unitrust? If so, make sure they're not mirror images of each other, or else the reciprocal trust rules may apply and cause estate tax inclusion.”
The OP calls them "spouse". Where do you get that they are not married?
“You're fine! I thought you were actually asking great questions. I just realized, reading responses, that people here with tax experience were missing what the phrase was about. (And congratulations!)”
“Bit of a side question, with claiming her every other year, should my husband be updating his W-4 yearly anyways to account for the gain/loss of her on his taxes? Yep! (Or if he'd rather, he could just fill out his W-4 without claiming her, and then get a larger refund in the years he does claim her.)”
“I understand the basics of apousal benefits and the penalties of claiming your own benne early. But when I have watched videos, sometimes its unclear which spouse they are talking about. Like they say “spouse” but we are both spouses. Anyways, lets say for ease of math, i am 1 year older than my wife and i am the primary earner. Lets say her FRA benefit is $1000 at 67 and mine is $4000 at 67. now in theory her spousal benefit would be $2000, if she waits until she is 67 and I am 68. But lets say”
“Thank you for commenting! This is what I thought at first but 2/3 of the online calculators indicated we'd end up paying more in taxes, which has had me feeling a little spooked and confused. Appreciate having another human weigh in on it. :)”
“You're in the best filing position now, especially if you want to keep your taxes separate for PSLF purposes”
“It doesn't sound like you would benefit tax-wise from being married given your situation. If one of you decides not to work for a while, and stay on one income, or one income is less than 1/3rd of the other income it really makes sense.”
“Legal marriage is a scam imo. Have a wedding. Say the vows. Wear the rings. No reason to get the government involved.”
Yes. Not because of taxes, because of lifestyle and family
“I agree, but most people who file separately to reduce student loan payments are seeking PSLF. The lifetime savings from this can be significant”
“You're comparing MFS to MFJ, when the OP'S current filing situation is Single and HOH. No, individual situations are not going to vary when comparing the options being presented in the original question”
“Agree here on the kids but spouse doesn’t help the situation if you’re MFJ unless their retirement contributions are meaningful to offset the w2 taxes and lost QBI deduction.”
“that sounds like a really complicated situation. one thing id be careful about is assuming that the agreement with your former spouse automatically protects you from the irs or the state. from what i understand, those agencies generally arent bound by the terms of a divorce agreement, so it may be worth getting advice from a tax attorney who handles both innocent spouse claims and collection matters. id also keep copies of the mou, tax notices, garnishment records, payment history, and all commu”
“you've literally given up years of income to support him and start a family together. This is exactly why assets are usually divided in a divorce, and it's disturbing that he thinks you getting nothing is fair. I'm not saying it has to be 50/50, but if you're going to make sacrifices like this you need more financial protection”
“Do you realize that a big part of the reason for that is the fact he's going out of his way to make it that way? A normal solution would be for his assets to pass to you if he died plus a life insurance policy to cover lost income so you'd be about to maintain the life style without disruption. In the case of divorce, child support exists in part to make sure both parents can provide a similar experience for their kids. (Plus you'd usually be entitled to some of the assets, especiall”
“You’re setting yourself to be a second class citizen in your own family, probably will never escape the gold digger moniker either”
“There are two separate issues here. As a worker/taxpayer, she is obligated to report all of her income on her taxes (or if you two file jointly, on your joint tax return), whether it's "on" the books or "off." Yes, that would mean paying the full self-employment tax portion for the "off" part of the income that hasn't had FICA withheld from the pay and half paid by the employer. Whether what the employer is doing with this half-on/half-off setup is legal/leg”
Probably cheaper to get added To hers and pay that. Not an option?
“In 2025, parents file together (dad as primary). In next year, as surviving spouse your mom can elect to surviving spouse (akamarried filing joint ) for next 2 years 2026&2027)”
“But the fact that you made the election would mean that you'd never be able to use it again in the future.”
“What state are you living and working in? Do you own a home? Also note that in the event you divorce or revoke the election, it cannot be elected a second time.”
“Surely im not liable for this just because we are technically still married Have you filed for divorce yet? A lot of times the property / debt split date is the day you file. This is a question for your lawyer, not reddit. If you don't have a lawyer yet you need to get one.”
“What you wrote boils down to: "He abused me financially while we were married so of course I let him keep doing it by agreeing to file a joint return after we separated." Talk to your divorce lawyer. Get some common sense!”
“Every couple's relationships and finances are different. Would you explain your relationship's finances a bit more? Like, are the finances separated? Is that the plan for life? Are the debts/assets from pre-marital sources? How true do you feel the "for richer or for poorer" vow applies to your situation? Do you want to examine the family finances as a whole? Or do you want to hyperfocus on your finances specifically?”
“The only way innocent spouse works is if you signed the tax return under duress or if he forged your signature and were unaware of the tax liability(fraud). otherwise you are jointly liable”
“Hey there, this is a frustrating but common situation. Unfortunately, a divorce decree doesn't override joint and several liability on a return that was filed jointly. That's a matter between you and your ex, not something the IRS enforces. This is exactly the kind of filing many people bring in professional help for. Given there's already an IRS letter with a clock running, it's worth getting this moving soon rather than continuing to wait on your ex. Hope this helps. Note that”
“How big is the bill? You may spend more in court trying to get your ex to pay or at least pay his share”
“The way out is to pay it, then sue your ex for violating your decree. It's possible to make a claim as an innocent spouse. But you probably don't qualify, as you signed the joint return knowing you were jointly liable for it.”
“get a tax pro to help you file form 8857 .,doing innocent spouse alone is a headache and if you miss even one detail they slap you with denial”
“You're taking my comment out of context. OP had specifically asked: "Is there any way out of this? Looking into Innocent Spouse Relief but the paperwork looks like a total nightmare and I'm terrified of filling out wrong and getting rejected. Anyone been through this? How do you deal with the IRS when your ex is ghosting?" The comment I replied to basically told OP to stop being lazy and fill out the form if they know that it needs to be filled out. That was the context of my r”
“Please familiarize yourself with equitable relief, which is one of the forms of innocent spouse relief you didn't bother to read about in your IRS pub. Those of us who go to Tax Court and cite LAW rather than pubs call this §6015(f).”
“I had to fill out an “innocent spouse” form. Then the IRS eventually called me. The conversation was extremely irritating. Even though it was my ex’s business that I had absolutely nothing to do with or any knowledge of his books, in the eyes of the IRS “since I had a bachelor’s degree I was smart enough to know better”. I was floored. I hope a survivor of DV doesn’t get the same woman I spoke with.”
“If you filed jointly then yes, the IRS can come after both of you for the tax. The divorce decree means that if you pay it you can then sue your ex to pay you back.”
“Correct - per the IRS, you are liable. They do not care what your divorce decree says. The divorce decree is a civil arrangement per you and your ex. It does not change the actual liability for the debt with the creditor. You basically have two options, depending on your priorities: 1) You can pay the debt off to the IRS, then file in court to force your ex to pay you. This clears up the debt being in your name, and you then effectively become the creditor and need to collect from your ex, which”
“It’s worth attempting to get Equitable Relief. Although the IRS is not bound by the divorce decree, that’s one of many factors they consider. I’ve gotten it for multiple clients before in the same situation as you. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/equitable-relief”
“'and the rep basically told me, We don't care what your divorce decree says you're both jointly liable' Exactly. People run into this with all sorts of debts. You had an agreement with one company/organization where you both were liable. You can't write a contract later between the two of you modifying that agreement. You can take your husband back into court for violating the divorce decree and I would.”
“Talk to your divorce lawyer. They are violating the agreement. The IRS will not budge on this.”
“So sorry. Back to court to force him to pay. It was a joint filing year and unless you can overcome the innocent spouse hurdles (hard), it's a joint debt and the his non-compliance with the divorce decree is a matter for family courts, not tax.”
“I've had success requesting Equitable Relief using Form 8857 (same form as Innocent Spouse) when the ex spouse whose business activity generated the tax was willing to write a letter to include in the packet agreeing that it was his tax and that he would pay it. Otherwise, back to divorce court to enforce the decree is the way to go.”
“Part of the issue here is she gets a raise and your perspective is "now she makes more than me" instead of "we increased our household income". If you are legally married in the U.S., almost all of your money is likely shared. The Yours vs Mine disappears when you signed the marriage license. All decisions are joint decisions. Built on trust.”