Innocent spouse/domestic violence.According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. IR- ir- 1 pref. Variant of in-1. ir- 2 pref. Variant of in-2. 2001-23, the IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. has taken steps to protect victims of domestic violence who apply for innocent spouse spouse A legal marriage partner as defined by state law relief. The safeguards respond to concerns brought to the IRS by a number of outside groups interested in domestic-violence issues. A taxpayer who has been a victim of domestic violence and fears that filing a claim for innocent spouse relief will result in retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and should write "Potential Domestic Abuse Case" at the top of Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief. This term will alert the IRS to the taxpayer's situation. Taxpayers should also explain their concerns in a statement attached to the claim, in addition to explaining why they should qualify for innocent spouse relief. The law requires the IRS to tell a taxpayer's spouse (or former spouse) that innocent spouse relief has been requested. The spouse (or former spouse) has the right to provide the IRS with information and receive limited information from the IRS about that request. However, the IRS strictly adheres to tax law provisions that protect the confidentiality of sensitive information. This means the IRS will not release information that could endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. the safety of domestic-violence victims. For example, the IRS will not release to a taxpayer's spouse (or former spouse) a new name, address, employer information, phone or fax number or other information not related to deciding the innocent spouse claim. For potential abuse cases, the IRS also centralizes all correspondence in one location. This change means the other spouse cannot guess the location of the domestic-abuse victim through a postmark or the location of a local IRS office. IRS workers with innocent spouse cases also will receive special training on how to properly handle abuse cases. The designation as a "Potential Domestic Abuse Case" does not lead to special consideration when the IRS makes an innocent spouse decision. However, evidence of abuse is one factor that the IRS may consider under innocent spouse relief. Form 8857 is available at www.irs.gov See .gov and GovNet. (networking) gov - The top-level domain for US government bodies. in the "Forms and Pubs" section. Taxpayers who wish to investigate eligibility for innocent spouse relief can visit the Innocent Spouse Tax Relief Eligibility Explorer on the IRS Website, at www.irs.gov/prod/ ind_info/s_tree/index.html. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion