Instructions For Form 8857 (Rev. June 2007) (Page 4 of 4) in pdf

unable to resist demands to sign the return and you would not

Line 3

have signed the return except for the constraint applied by your

Check “Yes” for any tax year to which all of the following apply.

spouse or former spouse. The duress must be directly

•

You filed a joint return for the year listed on line 1.

connected with the signing of the joint return.

•

At the time you filed the joint return, your spouse owed

past-due federal tax, state income tax, child support, spousal

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support, or federal nontax debt, such as a student loan.

•

The IRS used (offset) the refund to pay your spouse’s

You may not be entitled to relief if either of the following applies.

past-due amount.

•

Your spouse (or former spouse) transferred property (or the

If all three of the above apply, do not file Form 8857 for that tax

right to property) to you for the main purpose of avoiding tax or

year. However, you may be able to get back your share of the

payment of tax. A transfer will be presumed to meet this

refund for that tax year if you file Form 8379, Injured Spouse

condition if the transfer is made after the date that is 1 year

Allocation.

before the date on which the IRS sent its first letter of proposed

If all three of the above do not apply, check “No” and go to

deficiency.

•

line 4.

The IRS proves that you and your spouse (or former spouse)

transferred property to one another as part of a fraudulent

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scheme. A fraudulent scheme includes a scheme to defraud the

IRS or another third party such as a creditor, former spouse, or

Enter your current name, social security number, home

business partner.

address, and best daytime phone number to call you if we need

For more information about transfers of property, see Pub. 971.

more information. Also enter your county.

If your current name is different from your name as shown

Sign Form 8857

on your tax return for any year for which you are requesting

relief, enter it in parentheses after your current name. For

The IRS cannot consider your Form 8857 if you do not sign it. If

example, enter “Jane Maple (formerly Jane Oak).”

you do not sign it, we will return it to you. Also be sure to date it.

P.O. box. Enter your box number only if your post office does

Keep a copy of the completed form for your records.

not deliver mail to your home.

Foreign address. Enter the information in the following order:

Paid Preparer Must Sign

City, province or state, and country. Follow the country’s

practice for entering the postal code. Do not abbreviate the

Generally, anyone you pay to prepare Form 8857 must sign it in

country name.

the space provided. The preparer must give you a copy of Form

8857 for your records. Someone who prepares Form 8857 but

Change of address. If you move after you file Form 8857,

does not charge you should not sign it.

please use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of

your new address.

Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask

for the information on this form to carry out the Internal

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Revenue laws of the United States. We need it to determine the

Enter the current name and SSN (if known) of the person to

amount of liability, if any, of which you may be relieved. Internal

whom you were married at the end of the year(s) listed on

Revenue Code sections 66(c) and 6015 allow relief from

line 1.

liability. If you request relief of liability, you must give us the

information requested on this form. Code section 6109 requires

P.O. box. Enter the box number only if:

•

you to provide your social security number. Routine uses of this

You do not know the street address, or

•

information include giving it to the Department of Justice for civil

The post office does not deliver mail to the street address.

and criminal litigation, and to cities, states, and the District of

Foreign address. See the instructions for line 6 on this page.

Columbia for use in administering their tax laws. We may also

disclose this information to other countries under a tax treaty, to

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federal and state agencies to enforce federal nontax criminal

laws, or to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to

By law, if a person’s name is signed to a return, it is presumed

combat terrorism. If you do not provide all the information in a

to be signed by that person. You must prove that your signature

timely manner, we may not be able to process your request.

on the joint return was forged or that you signed under duress

(threat of harm or other form of coercion). Attach a statement

You are not required to provide the information requested on

explaining why you believe your signature was forged or you

a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless

signed under duress.

the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or

Forged signature. Your signature on the joint return is

records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as

considered to be forged if it was not signed by you and you did

long as their contents may become material in the

not authorize (give tacit consent) the signing of your name to

administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax

the return.

returns and return information are confidential, as required by

Code section 6103.

Tacit consent. Tacit consent means that, based on your

actions at the time the joint return was filed, you agreed to the

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary

filing of the joint return. You may be considered to have given

depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average

tacit consent if any of the following apply.

time is:

•

You gave tax information (such as Forms W-2 and 1099) to

Learning about the law or the form, 1 hr., 9 min.; Preparing

your spouse.

•

the form, 2 hr., 36 min.; and Copying, assembling, and

You did not object to the filing.

•

sending the form to the IRS, 1 hr., 3 min.

You did not have a valid reason to refuse to file jointly.

•

There was an apparent advantage to you in filing a joint

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of this time

return.

estimate or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would

be happy to hear from you. You can write to the Internal

We will also consider whether you filed joint returns with your

Revenue Service, Tax Products Coordinating Committee,

spouse or former spouse in prior years and whether you filed a

SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6406,

separate income tax return for that year.

Washington, DC 20224. Do not send the form to this address.

Sign under duress. You are considered to have signed under

Instead, see Where To File on page 1.

duress (threat of harm or other form of coercion) if you were

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Instructions For Form 8857 (Rev. June 2007) Page 4

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