Innocent Spouse Relief Rule Changed

IRS Tax ProblemsIRS News

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman announced that the IRS is doing away with the two year requirement for innocent spouse relief.

The innocent spouse rule allows an innocent spouse to seek relief from an unpaid tax debt that they were unaware of. The IRS receives over 50,000 requests a year for innocent spouse relief. They grant less than half of those requests.

The commissioner stated that approximately 2000 requests were denied last year based upon the two year rule.

In short, the two-year rule required the innocent spouse to request relief within two years of the IRS beginning collection activity .

Over the years, IRS and Congress, received many complaints about the two-year requirement because many spouses were simply unaware they had a tax problem.

The rule change will apply to cases that are currently pending before the IRS.

The IRS is eliminating the deadline for taxpayers who seek innocent spouse status under the “equitable relief provisions”

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