What happens if you make an injured spouse claim to the IRS?

April 10, 2016 8:33 PM

I was researching some tax questions on AskMe and learned about the "injured spouse" provision. Last tax year we had a situation where our refund was absorbed by an old outstanding tax bill my spouse incurred a decade before we were married and had forgotten about. I understand I can file as an injured spouse to recoup some of this loss that came from my withheld taxes, but my question is: what happens to the debt? Will my spouse just receive a new bill for that amount? If that's what happens we're probably best chalking it up as water under the bridge. Thanks for any help you can provide.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (1 answer total)

It is complicated, but as I understand it your spouse's debt remains and interest and penalties continue to accrue, so assuming you plan to remain happily married, I'd recommend against it. See this blog for some more rationale on this.
posted by dttocs at 9:54 PM on April 10, 2016 [2 favorites]