Spouses taxes

Yes, but you can do something about it.

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.

From the IRS:

Generally: If you file Form 8379 with a joint return electronically, the time needed to process it is about 11 weeks.

If you file Form 8379 with a joint return on paper, the time needed is about 14 weeks.

If you file Form 8379 by itself after a joint return has already been processed, the time needed is about 8 weeks.

Injured Spouse | Internal Revenue Service

Good luck, as you pursue your remedy.

 

As phrased, this question doesn't make a lick of sense. Child support is an obligation, not a thing or entity that is capable of "taking" anything. An income tax return is a physical or virtual document that is submitted to a taxing authority. Finally, it is not possible to put a "tax return" on a "child support payment."

I think what you might be asking is the following:

H is married to W. H owes a child support obligation to X, and H has failed to pay all or part of that obligation such that some state or local authority is seeking to enforce the obligation.

Correct so far?

Apparently, H and W have filed separate tax returns, and apparently W will be receiving a refund from either the IRS or the state taxing authority (or maybe both).

Also correct?

Your question is then whether the child support enforcement authority can garnish W's anticipated tax refund for the purpose of satisfying H's delinquent child support obligation. Correct?

If all that's correct, the answer is no.

That does not relieve you of a court ordered obligation to pay child support.

 

You and your wife are not in a community property state and apparently your wife filed a married filing separate or head of household (HoH) return. Under those circumstances your wife's refund on her return cannot be offset against the child support obligation that you owe.

If you filed jointly then the entire refund on the joint return may be offset against your child support obligation but in that circumstance your wife could file for an injured spouse allocation using Form 8379 to get her share of the refund sent to her, as mentioned by Army Judge earlier.

 

If you file a joint return with your spouse, yes they could take child support for your kids from your spouse's support. Then she would have to file to get it back and that can take up to six months.

This is one reason why I filed married but separate when I was married to my ex. He never had a job with me and I'm not letting the state take my money. Plus I paid his child support for him anyway so we could see the kids.

 

Nobody said otherwise. There really is no reason for the indignation.

 

Huh?

 

Yes. Did you read what I wrote?

Cool!! Doesn't change ANY of the conclusions in my prior response!!

 

Of course if OP would pay his child support he wouldn't have to worry about taxes being intercepted. He should really start worrying about a warrant being issued for his arrest.

 

She filed, but what status did she use to file? does she know your SSN? If so, she could have put you on there to get a larger refund. I would double check that she did not do so.

 

Her only choice when filing separately would have been to file married filing separately. She could not qualify for head of household status assuming that they lived together at any point during the last six months of the tax year. And, of course, to file a joint return she needs to include all of the OP's income (if any) and have the OP sign the return. She evidently didn't do that, since the OP says she filed separately.

You are supposed to put your spouse's SSN on your return when filing separately. In any event, a spouse is never a dependent and, moreover, for the years 2018 through 2025 the value of the personal and dependent exemptions is zero, so there would be no tax benefit even if the spouse could be a dependent. In short, she'd not get a bigger refund by somehow including the OP on her separate return.

 

Omg chill out man. Did you see I said "IF." Good grief.

You got your damn answer. IF she filed joint but separately then no they won't take her tax return. So she has nothing to worry about.

How about you go ahead and just pay your child support and stay caught up so there's no concern about intercepted tax returns? Just a thought. No need to respond.

 

Well, there is no way to both file joint and separately at the same time. The phrase you were looking for is "married filing separately."