Can my spouses child support be taken from my tax return?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 31, 2019
11 replies
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My wife has child support arrears but, she has no job or income. I am filing my taxes as married but filing seperately. Is there anything I can do to keep my return without it going towards her child support arrears?

TurboTax PLUS Online

Best answer by bwa

If you are filing married filing separately they cannot take your refund.

But, why not file a joint return. Injured spouse relief is when one spouse's refund allocable to her/his income is taken by the Government to satisfy child support, back taxes, an unpaid student loan, etc.

You need to insure that if you file a joint return, you include Form 8379 to claim injured spouse relief. This will prevent the "injured" spouse's share of the refund from being offset by the debt. Turbotax supports this form. Injured spouse (Form 8379) is included under the Federal Taxes tab. Look at under the federal review for other tax situations.

While an injured spouse return can be e-filed, including injured spouse on your return will delay your refund by about 14 weeks (11 weeks if it is e-filed.)

In Turbotax, type "injured spouse" in the find box at the top of the page to find the correct location to claim injured spouse.
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Future Years

For future years, there are several other solutions. These would include:

1. File separate returns. This is generally not a good solution because it will result in additional taxes.
2. Adjust your withholding so there is no refund. Without a refund, there is nothing to offset.
3. Pay the past due amounts.

See the IRS's Q & A on injured spouse here. http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-Individuals/Frequently-Asked-Tax-Questions....
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Community Property States

You don't mention where you live. As an additional comment, the rules are sometimes different if you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.) In those states, even with injured spouse relief, the relief may not be as complete as it would be in other states. If you live in one of those states, see IRS Publication 555 for a more complete discussion of injured spouse in a community property state. It can be found at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p555/ar02.html#d0e928

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markie1234

I live in New york and my husband and I have only been married for about 4 months, he has back support on children he had long before me...he was paying it for a while and lost his job so he hasn't been able to pay right this moment..how do I keep my taxes from getting taken? I have taxes to pay on my house if they get taken I will lose my home

xmasbaby0

Employee

@markie1234 You can file as an injured spouse to protect the part of the refund that is coming from the amount you earned. It will take extra time for the IRS to process your tax return, so understand that. Filing as injured spouse adds about a couple of months to the time it takes for the IRS to process your tax return.

INJURED SPOUSE

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1910698-how-do-i-file-form-8379-injured-spouse-allocation

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

xmasbaby0

Employee

@markie1234 Another possibility----you could file married filing separately. But that is usually the worst way to file, especially if you have children of your own or if you have education credits etc. that you want to use. If you file separate returns you cannot get earned income credit or education credits. However, if you file separately, the IRS cannot take your refund to pay your spouse's delinquent child support. They can only take his refund.

If you file jointly with your new spouse, use the injured spouse form.

Here is some information----you can decide what might be better for your situation:

If you were legally married at the end of 2022 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $25,900 (+$1400 for each spouse 65 or older) You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states: AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

If you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separately