IRS filing jointhly?

Question

I have a friend who went to have his taxes done and apparently forged his wifes signature. When the wife found out she went to where he had his taxes done and received half of the money. Now she is threatening to call the IRS and report him for having forged her signature. With her receiving half of the money, does she still have a case?

The point i am trying to clarify is if she cashed a check and received money from a joint return that she is claimng forgery on....does she have a case? or does the fact that she cashed the check and received half of the money screw up her chances.

Answer 1

your friend obviously does not realize that
a) all checks for joint returns must be endorsed by both parties and deposited into a bank account with both names on it (or cashed in the presencce of both payees) and
b) all electronic deposits must also go to joint accounts if it is a MFJ return.

His cunning plan was never, ever going to work. Unless he goes to the bank I used to work at where a dopey teller (not me) accepted the refund check for deposit into an account in the husband's sole name. The bank settled with the wife within the week.

EDIT: To answer your clarification, a crime was, apparently, committed. In terms of a conviction, it does not matter that it was remedied (in this case by her receiving half the money) although if it went to court, the judge may be lenient.

You might do better asking this in the Law and Ethics section. The tax bods who populate this board aren't into criminal law so much (although a few sad cases think the Internal Revenue Code IS a criminal law, but that's another story!)

Answer 2

Unfortunately the IRS often turns a blind eye to this type of activity (courts have even said that it is not a problem for a husband to sign a tax return for his wife).

There may in fact be a criminal offense here. The problem is that the state would probably have to prove that the husband signed the return with the intent to forge the wife's signature in order to get at all of the tax refund. This may be a problem (especially if you are in a state whose laws say that the husband has full rights to all property equally with the wife).

The bottom line is run it by (1) your local police/sheriff and/or (2) your local county/district attorney. The county/district attorney should be able to tell you whether they will prosecute the case.

Best of luck.

Answer 3

Sure. Forgery is a crime. She should report it to the local police as well.

Answer 4

she may have a case but will cause more problems then it will solve. especially for her.