Tax filing is a stressful time for many people but when you have a clear background then what are you afraid of? Well, sometimes when you panic a lot, you tend to make mistakes which bring a delay in filing the taxes, or you get the files back without the check that you have committed a mistake which requires you to file the taxes again. If you are married then filing the taxes as a joint can bring a lot of benefits to you which makes it liable for the taxes and you are exempted from any penalties as well. Filing the taxes for both spouses makes them responsible for the earning even if one of the spouses is working and the other one is not.
The innocent spouse relief provides you the opportunity when the spouse cheats on the tax bills with the IRS. You can use the innocent spouse relief to get the relief from the trouble which may arise when you have not done anything. It is always recommended by the IRS to file the taxes jointly because they have chances in the IRS to qualify for earning big amounts as a tax return. If a husband files the tax alone and the wife does it separately, there are fewer benefits for that which is why it is better to file it together in one form.
When both husband and wife file the taxes together, they are also liable for the tax debt together. Even if they get separate at one point in life, one of the individuals has to pay off the debt. Then comes the part of the innocent spouse relief which gives the ease to the couples out there.
If you wish to avoid the unnecessary liability on you for the tax, then you have the option of innocent spouse relief. It is one of the popular methods introduced by IRS to give the relief to the spouse who has to pay off the tax debt. When IRS checks all the background and allows you to the innocent spouse relief, the liability gets removed permanently, but you still have to pay the taxes which are regular.
Criteria for Innocent Spouse Relief
Here are some of the factors which can qualify you for the innocent spouse relief as follows:
If you have not signed the tax return papers, then the IRS department gets to know that it gets forged and they return the papers to the couple without any tax check. When you are married, and you do not fill the information of the spouse, it can be alarming for IRS to look into the matter and find out about the spouse information through different means. When you can show the proof that you have not signed the papers and they get done by the other spouse, then you can cancel the check jointly and agree on the mistake of the spouse.
When you file the taxes, you have up to 2 year’s validity to file for the innocent spouse relief. After that, you will not be able to fit the criteria for IRS to approve the relief for you. As long as you are under the range of 2 years, you will be able to receive the spouse relief option. If you are not sure what you need to do regarding the innocent spouse relief option then it is better you talk to the tax preparer, they help you with providing you all the possible information and get you through the long process of innocent spouse relief as well. You have to provide all the personal and professional information to the tax preparer to make sure choose someone trustworthy who can do the work for you perfectly.
