At what point are you responsible for your spouses IRS debt?

Question

I am getting married in July and my fiance has not filed his income tax in the last 3 years. If he files before we get married and owes money (and he will owe) does that make me in any way responsible for repaying any monies owed? I know there is no way he will be able to pay any money owed before the wedding. I just don't want the irs to garnish my wages or take money out of my bank account. After we are married, Does that make me responsible for the past 3 years? Does that make me responsible for any years in the future that he does not file????

Answer 1

You are not responsible for your fiances income taxes owed prior to you getting married. But if you have any joint assets the IRS would be able to garnish against those joint assets to satisfy what he owes. Your best bet is to keep your bank accounts separate from his until his prior taxes are settled. If you and your fiance file a joint return and you have a refund, the IRS can take the refund and apply it against the prior taxes. You would not be responsible for any years in the future that your spouse doesn't file for only if you file separately. If you file a joint return, and he doesn't include all his income you would be just as responsible for the tax liability as he would be. There is the innocent spouse form that you could send in to the IRS if they tried going after you for monies owed on a joint return. But you would have to prove to their satisfaction that you didn't know about the missing income.

Answer 2

Mark S's answer is correct. I just wanted to add a little bit of information. Your fiance should file the delinquent tax returns & request an installment agreement in order to pay the balance owed. If the agreement is accepted by the IRS & paid as agreed (you can send payment in or set it up to be automatically withdrawn from your account each month), the IRS will not levy your property. They will take your tax refund each year so if you want to retain your part of the refund, do file the Injured Spouse form. But in all honesty, if you're trying to get the tax liability paid off as quickly as possible, I'd let them have the entire refund to reduce the debt. You can keep all of your finances separate, but unless you're making a good income, you might need his income/credit to make major purchases in the future. So if you're going to marry him, encourage him to get this IRS problem behind him & then make sure that he does.

Answer 3

All of the answerers missed the mark.

You are not responsible for your fiance's taxes prior to getting married. That much is true.

You should also keep separate bank accounts

However you do NOT have to file MFS. You can file a joint return with Form 8379 Injured Spouse

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf

This form will allow the IRS to calculate how much of the joint refund is due to your income and they will send that to you.
It takes about 6 weeks to process that form.

This form will only work if you are reporting income and tax payments on the joint return.

Answer 4

sure, the kind 8379 may help you get a number of your refund back mostly. you receives your proportional percentage of any refund. a miles extra urgent question is why are you receiving such an insanely intense refund?? you're giving the authorities an interest loose loan of $2 hundred per week with a $10k+ refund! it really is economic irresponsibility contained in the bright. Be smart about this! regulate your withholdings so that you get carry of little or no refund next 12 months -- extra efficient yet, a small tax bill to PAY once you document! That way you may have as a lot money on your pocket as a probability each payday and also you gained't ought to rigidity about any offset of your refund considering that there gained't BE money back.

Answer 5

If you file a joint return, then you're responsible for everything on that return. You would not be responsible for the years before you got married, or for a year after you were married if he didn't file and you file separately.

If he owes though for past years, and you file a joint return, they'd take the entire refund toward his debt unless you filed an innocent spouse form.

And while you might not be responsible for his debts, it will certainly affect you if he ends up getting assets seized.

Answer 6

You are only responsible for taxes owed if they are on a joint return. Though, in the future, your joint refunds may be seized to offset any balance due unless you file seperately or you file as an injured spouse.
-------
If you feel that he will have issues in the future, do not marry him!

Rule #1) Never marry someone with tax problems.
Rule #2) Never forget Rule #1.

Answer 7

To erect a wall between his finances and yours you will want to file your returns as Married, Filing Seperately. If you get soft and cuddly and make the mistake of going Married, Filing Joint make double darn sure you include a form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation to protect your refund from seizure. Do not have any joint checking or savings accouts or you will kiss them goodbye. Do not buy a house or own any property jointly as it will be subject to IRS seizure and sale. Keep a wall erected between your two financial houses for your own safety. I would urge you to have him get his returns filed and work on paying what he owes in taxes. If he doesn't your life will be one long nightmare as far as finances are concerned.

Answer 8

Wow.....maybe you shouldn't marry this dude...

He doesn't sound very dependable, reliable or financially responsible....

Answer 9

I would call IRS and ask then on that one