Instructions For Form 8857 - Request For Innocent Spouse Relief (Page 4 of 5) in pdf

Proof Required

relief, enter your former name in parentheses after your current

name. For example, enter “Jane Maple (formerly Jane Oak).”

The IRS will only refund payments you made with your own

Foreign address. Enter the information in the following order:

money. However, you must provide proof that you made the

City, province or state, and country. Follow the country’s

payments with your own money. Examples of proof are a copy

practice for entering the postal code. Do not abbreviate the

of your bank statement or a canceled check. No proof is

country name.

required if your individual refund was used by the IRS to pay a

tax you owed on a joint tax return for another year.

Change of address. If you move after you file Form 8857,

please use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of

Refunds Under Equitable Relief

your new address.

In the following situations, you are eligible to receive a refund of

Line 7

certain payments you made.

Underpaid tax. If you are granted relief for an underpaid tax,

Enter the current name and SSN (if known) of the person to

you are eligible for a refund of separate payments that you

whom you were married at the end of the year(s) listed on

made after July 22, 1998. However, you are not eligible for

line 1.

refunds of payments made with the joint return, joint payments,

P.O. box. Enter the box number only if:

•

or payments that your spouse (or former spouse) made. For

You do not know the street address, or

•

example, withholding tax and estimated tax payments cannot

The post office does not deliver mail to the street address.

be refunded because they are considered made with the joint

Foreign address. See the instructions for line 6 above.

return.

Line 12

The amount of the refund is subject to the limit discussed

later under Limit on Amount of Refund.

By law, if a person’s name is signed to a return, it is presumed

to be signed by that person. You must prove that your signature

Understated tax. If you are granted relief for an understated

on the joint return was forged or that you signed under duress

tax, you are eligible for a refund of certain payments made

(threat of harm or other form of coercion). Attach a statement

under an installment agreement that you entered into with the

explaining why you believe your signature was forged or you

IRS, if you have not defaulted on the installment agreement.

signed under duress.

You are not in default if the IRS did not issue you a notice of

default or take any action to end the installment agreement.

Forged signature. Your signature on the joint return is

Only installment payments made after the date you filed Form

considered to be forged if it was not signed by you and you did

8857 are eligible for a refund.

not authorize (give tacit consent) the signing of your name to

the return.

The amount of the refund is subject to the limit discussed

Tacit consent. Tacit consent means that, based on your

next.

actions at the time the joint return was filed, you agreed to the

Limit on Amount of Refund

filing of the joint return even if you now claim the signature on

the return is not yours. Whether you have tacitly consented to

The amount of your refund is limited. Read the following chart

the filing of the joint return is based on an examination of all the

to find out the limit.

facts of your case. Factors that may support a finding that you

consented to the filing of the joint return include the following.

IF you file Form 8857 . . .

THEN the refund cannot be

•

more than . . .

You gave tax information (such as Forms W-2 and 1099) to

your spouse.

Within 3 years after filing your

The part of the tax paid within the

•

You did not object to the filing.

return

3 years (plus any extension of

•

There was an apparent advantage to you in filing a joint

time for filing your return) before

return.

you filed Form 8857.

•

You filed joint returns with your spouse or former spouse in

After the 3-year period, but within The tax you paid within the 2

prior years.

•

2 years from the time you paid the years immediately before you filed

You failed to file a married filing separate return and you had

tax

Form 8857.

a filing requirement.

Sign under duress. You are considered to have signed under

duress (threat of harm or other form of coercion) if you were

Line 3

unable to resist demands to sign the return and you would not

have signed the return except for the constraint applied by your

Check “Yes” for any tax year to which all of the following apply.

•

spouse or former spouse. The duress must be directly

You filed a joint return for the year listed on line 1.

•

connected with the signing of the joint return.

At the time you filed the joint return, your spouse owed

past-due federal tax, state income tax, child support, spousal

Line 20

support, or federal nontax debt, such as a student loan.

•

The IRS used (offset) the refund to pay your spouse’s

You may not be entitled to relief if either of the following applies.

•

past-due amount.

Your spouse (or former spouse) transferred property (or the

If all three of the above apply, do not file Form 8857 for that tax

right to property) to you for the main purpose of avoiding tax or

year. However, you may be able to get back your share of the

payment of tax. A transfer will be presumed to meet this

refund for that tax year if you file Form 8379, Injured Spouse

condition if the transfer is made after the date that is 1 year

Allocation.

before the date on which the IRS sent its first letter of proposed

deficiency.

If all three of the above do not apply, check “No” and go to

•

The IRS proves that you and your spouse (or former spouse)

line 4.

transferred property to one another as part of a fraudulent

Line 4

scheme. A fraudulent scheme includes a scheme to defraud the

IRS or another third party such as a creditor, former spouse, or

Check “Yes” if a return claiming married filing jointly status was

business partner.

filed for the tax year listed on line 1. Check “Yes” even if you

For more information about transfers of property, see Pub. 971.

signed the return under duress or your signature was forged.

Fair market value. Fair market value is the price at which

property would change hands between a willing buyer and a

Line 6

willing seller when both have reasonable knowledge of the

Enter your current name, social security number, current

relevant facts and neither has to buy or sell.

mailing address, and best daytime phone number to call you if

Line 23

we need more information. Also enter your county.

If your current name is different from your name as shown

See the instructions for line 20 for the definition of fair market

on your tax return for any year for which you are requesting

value.

-4-

Instructions for Form 8857 (Rev. 09-2011)

Instructions For Form 8857 - Request For Innocent Spouse Relief Page 4

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