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Innocent Spouse Relief Options: Separation of Liability
Separation of liability is an innocent spouse defense that allocates a tax deficiency between two spouses in proportion to each spouse’s contribution to the deficiency. While the IRS can generally collect the entire tax debt for a joint return from either spouse, separation of liability—along with the other innocent spouse relief options—prevents the IRS from collecting tax from one spouse when the erroneous item on the return is attributable to the other spouse.
The Conditions for Separation of Liability Relief
In order to qualify for separation of liability, you must have filed a joint return and meet one of the following conditions: