Innocent Spouse Relief may get faster....or maybe not
IRS provides updated guidance for equitable innocent spouse relief requests RIA, a large Tax Publisher, reported on revisions to Innocent Spouse relief requests. It has been extremely difficult (if not practically impossible) for married couples still living together to have one spouse qualify under the "innocent spouse" relief provisions. Even in situations where one spouse has illegal earnings, or has a huge increase in tax due to a business audit, the IRS almost always rejects the Innocent Spouse claim. The main argument is the spouse "benefited" from the income and higher life style and therefore should have known of the misreported income or expenses. In addition to the usual denial of relief, the extremely long time for the IRS to process the requests, makes it costly and annoying. Supposedly, there will be a "streamlined" request. Usually, when the IRS announces such "reforms" they really do not mean much for most taxpayers. In ...