Filing a joint income tax return can qualify you for innocent spouse relief if your spouse somehow mismanaged your joint tax payments.
The IRS offers this relief to individuals who have acquired tax liability through mistakes or omissions made on tax returns that were filed jointly with a spouse or ex-spouse.
This relief category makes perfect sense, as an individual should not be held accountable for a tax liability that he or she did not create.
This liability can result in liens on your bank accounts and salary, as well as the repossession of valuable property, until your burden is cleared.
This may go on indefinitely with penalties and interest piling up and adding to it.
Filing for innocent spouse relief then relieves the "innocent" spouse of paying for the unpaid back-taxes and all penalties.
To be able to file for innocent spouse relief, you must be able to prove your innocence regarding any knowledge of the tax problems your spouse has incurred.
The debt could have come from any unreported taxable income or income that your spouse failed to declare, an audit made without your knowledge, or any other discrepancy on the part of your spouse.
Therefore, when you file for innocent spouse relief, you announce that you had no knowledge of these unpaid taxes, failed declarations, and audits backed up with sufficient evidence to support your claim.
A tax attorney or professional tax relief agent may be able to help you with the legalities of your case.
If you have been divorced or had your marriage annulled, you must still file for innocent spouse relief as the divorce or annulment does not automatically affect the joint tax return.