Salt Lake City, Utah - Did the innocent spouse file a joint return with his or her spouse or did the innocent spouse file a married filing separately tax return. Innocent spouse relief hinges on this question.
In my experience, both personally as well as professionally, it is common for one spouse to sign the name of the other spouse and then file a joint tax return. Maybe Salt Lake City, Utah is unique, but I have found it not uncommon for one spouse to never see the return in question. If a couple finds themselves in tax trouble the question invariably arises "did the innocent spouse file a joint tax return?" The answer to this question is a very lawyerly answer "maybe."
On the surface it would seem that the filing spouse has forged the innocent spouse's name, and so the joint tax return is not a valid joint tax return. However, there is an exception to this rule called the “tacit consent” doctrine. Tacit Consent!!!! That sounds made up! Well it is not.
This judicial doctrine states that if the innocent spouse has a tax filing requirement, and if a joint return is filed for and on behalf of the innocent spouse, and if no other tax return is filed by the innocent spouse, then it is implied that the innocent spouse intended to file a joint tax return and tacitly consented to the other spouse filing the tax return on his or her behalf. In other words, if the innocent spouse claims that he or she did not agree to file the return, the question then is did the innocent spouse have a filing requirement, and if so, did the innocent spouse file his or her separate tax return. If a taxpayer believes a tax return was filed without the taxpayer’s consent or knowledge, then pursuing the issue is advised. One technique we use is to have a return prepared as “married filing separately” and to submit that tax returned, signed by the innocent spouse, and then claim the married filing separately tax return was the original tax return.
It does not matter where you live, be it Salt Lake City, Utah, or elsewhere, which form of relief the taxpayer chooses to pursue will depend upon the taxpayer’s particular circumstances. In our next Tax Tip we will focus on erroneous items and underpayments. If you or someone you know has a tax problem, we are here to help. Tax problems are legal problems, and we solve both. Go to my personal webpage at: https://strongandhanni.com/attorneys/attorney-kent-brown/ for tax tips and tax tools, or call my assistant, Kaylee, at: (801) 323-2112, or email Kent at: kbrown@strongandhanni.com. We would love to help. I have prepared a Tax Alert this week that I am sending to my clients about the "Fresh Start" program. I hear about the "Fresh Start" program all of the time, on the radio, on competitor websites, etc., etc., etc. If you would like a copy of this Tax Alert, please message me and I will send it to you.
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