Publication 971 - Innocent Spouse Relief - Internal Revenue Service Page 4
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24Tax Court Review of Request
Relief From Liability Arising From
Community Property Law
After you file Form 8857, you may be able to petition (ask)
You are not responsible for the tax relating to an item of
the United States Tax Court to review your request for
community income if all the following conditions exist.
relief in the following two situations.
1. You did not file a joint return for the tax year.
1. The IRS sends you a final determination letter re-
garding your request for relief.
2. You did not include the item of community income in
gross income.
2. You do not receive a final determination letter from
the IRS within six months from the date you filed
3. The item of community income you did not include is
Form 8857.
one of the following:
a. Wages, salaries, and other compensation your
If you seek equitable relief for an underpaid tax,
!
you will be able to get a Tax Court review of your
spouse (or former spouse) received for services
he or she performed as an employee.
request only if the tax arose or remained unpaid
CAUTION
on or after December 20, 2006.
b. Income your spouse (or former spouse) derived
The United States Tax Court is an independent judicial
from a trade or business he or she operated as a
body and is not part of the IRS.
sole proprietor.
You must file a petition with the United States Tax Court
c. Your spouse’s (or former spouse’s) distributive
in order for it to review your request for relief. You must file
share of partnership income.
the petition no later than the 90th day after the date the IRS
d. Income from your spouse’s (or former spouse’s)
mails its final determination notice to you. If you do not file
separate property (other than income described in
a petition, or you file it late, the Tax Court cannot review
(a), (b), or (c)). Use the appropriate community
your request for relief.
property law to determine what is separate prop-
You can get a copy of the rules for filing a petition
erty.
by writing to the Tax Court at the following ad-
e. Any other income that belongs to your spouse (or
dress:
former spouse) under community property law.
United States Tax Court
4. You establish that you did not know of, and had no
400 Second Street, NW
reason to know of, that community income. See
Ac-
Washington, DC 20217
tual Knowledge or Reason To
Know, below.
5. Under all facts and circumstances, it would not be
Or you can visit the Tax Court’s website at
www.
fair to include the item of community income in your
ustaxcourt.gov
gross income. See Indications of unfairness for liabil-
ity arising from community property law, later.
Actual knowledge or reason to know. You knew or had
Community Property Laws
reason to know of an item of community income if:
•
You actually knew of the item of community income,
You must generally follow community property laws when
or
filing a tax return if you are married and live in a community
•
A reasonable person in similar circumstances would
property state. Community property states are Arizona,
have known of the item of community income.
California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas,
Washington, and Wisconsin. Generally, community prop-
Amount of community income unknown. If you are
erty laws require you to allocate community income and
aware of the source of the item of community income or the
expenses equally between both spouses. However, com-
income-producing activity, but are unaware of the specific
munity property laws are not taken into account in deter-
amount, you are considered to know or have reason to
mining whether an item belongs to you or to your spouse
know of the item of community income. Not knowing the
(or former spouse) for purposes of requesting any relief
specific amount is not a basis for relief.
from liability.
Reason to know. The IRS will consider all facts and
Relief for Married Persons Who Did
circumstances in determining whether you had reason to
know of an item of community income. The facts and
Not File Joint Returns
circumstances include:
•
Married persons who live in community property states, but
The nature of the item of community income and the
who did not file joint returns, have two ways to get relief.
amount of the item relative to other income items.
Page 4
Publication 971 (September 2011)
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