IRS Balances After Divorce

Why the IRS can collect a joint balance from either former spouse

When you sign a joint return, the tax code makes the liability “joint and several” (IRC 6013(d)(3)). Each spouse is responsible for the entire tax, interest and penalties on that return, not half. A divorce does not change that. IRS Publication 504 says the responsibility “applies even if your divorce decree states that your former spouse will be responsible” for amounts on earlier joint returns, and Publication 971 repeats the point.

So if the joint year shows a balance, the IRS can pursue whichever former spouse it can collect from. In practice that means:

• Notices in your name. A CP14 balance-due notice and, later, a CP504 notice of intent to levy can arrive for a joint year your former spouse agreed to pay.
• Your refunds applied to the old balance. A refund on your own later return can be used to pay the joint balance. The Form 8857 instructions list that offset as a collection activity, which matters for the deadlines below.
• Levies and liens. Once the notice process runs, the IRS can levy your wages or bank account and file a lien, just as it could for a balance that was yours alone.

What the divorce decree is still good for

The decree binds the two of you, not the IRS. It still matters in two ways. First, Publication 971 treats a former spouse’s legal obligation to pay under a divorce decree as a factor in favor of equitable relief (see below). Second, any right to be repaid by your former spouse is enforced between the two of you, which is a question for your family law attorney rather than the IRS.

Which kind of relief fits your situation

The right form depends on what went wrong. Use this table to find your route, then read the details below or in our Fresh Start guide for married couples.

You don’t have to pick the right type of spouse relief yourself. One Form 8857 (Rev. 6-2021 (IRS.gov, 6-2021)) asks the IRS to consider all of them, and IRC 6015 lets it grant whichever you qualify for. If the IRS says you owe more because the return was wrong and you disagree with the amount itself, also read how to dispute an IRS balance.

Separation of liability: the option a divorce opens

Separation of liability under IRC 6015(c) is the relief most tied to divorce. It is available only if, when you file Form 8857, you are no longer married to the other spouse, are legally separated, or were not a member of the same household at any time during the 12 months ending on the date you file. It then splits an understatement of tax (the extra tax from an audit or a matching notice) between the two of you, roughly as if you had filed separately, so you owe only the part tied to your own items.

• Understated tax only. It does not help when the return was right and the tax was simply unpaid.
• Actual knowledge blocks it. It does not cover an item you actually knew about when you signed, unless you signed under duress.
• No refunds. Publication 971 says refunds are not available under separation of liability, while innocent spouse and equitable relief can refund payments you made with your own money.
• Deadline. No later than 2 years after the IRS begins collection activities against you, such as a refund offset or a final notice of intent to levy with hearing rights.

Innocent spouse relief under 6015(b) covers the same kind of understatement and is open whether or not you are still married, but it requires that you did not know and had no reason to know of the error. File as soon as you learn of the balance; the IRS web page puts it as “within 2 years of receiving an IRS notice of an audit or taxes due.”

Equitable relief when the tax was simply never paid

The most common divorce problem is a correct joint return with a balance due that nobody paid. The Form 8857 instructions say “Equitable relief is the only type of relief available for an unpaid tax.” It is decided on all the facts and circumstances. The IRS lists factors such as your marital status, economic hardship if you are not relieved, whether you knew or had reason to know your spouse would not pay, whether you significantly benefited, a legal obligation to pay (such as the divorce decree), your later tax compliance, and your mental and physical health. Abuse or financial control by your former spouse can also weigh in your favor.

Timing is more forgiving. For a balance still owed, you can ask “for as long as the IRS has to collect the tax,” generally 10 years (IRS.gov, 2026) from assessment and longer if that period was suspended. For a refund of amounts already paid, the request must come within 3 years after the return was filed or 2 years after the tax was paid, whichever is later.

You are not eligible for a year if you signed an offer in compromise or a closing agreement covering the same tax, a court made a final decision denying relief, or you took part in a related court case without asking for relief. If part of a joint balance may be your former spouse’s to carry, raise Form 8857 before you sign an offer for that year.

Example (assumed figures)

A couple’s correct joint return for one year showed $9,400 of tax they did not pay. They divorce, and the decree says the former husband will pay it. He doesn’t. The next spring, the former wife’s own refund of $2,100 is applied to the joint balance, leaving $7,300 plus penalties and interest that keep accruing, and she later receives a final notice. The IRS can keep collecting from her, because the decree does not bind it. Since the return was correct, innocent spouse relief and separation of liability do not fit. Her route is equitable relief on Form 8857, where the decree and whether she had reason to know he would not pay are both weighed. If relief is denied, she can still set up her own payment plan.

Form 8857: what happens after you file

The full step-by-step process is on our married couples page. The points that matter most after a divorce:

• File it on its own. The instructions say “Do not file Form 8857 with your tax return or the Tax Court”; mail or fax it to the address in the instructions.
• Your former spouse will be told. “By law, the IRS must contact your spouse or former spouse,” and the IRS says there are no exceptions, even for victims of abuse or domestic violence. It does not disclose your current name, address, phone number, employer, income or assets, but redact personal details you don’t need to send.
• Collection pauses for that year. Publication 971 says the IRS “cannot collect from you for that year while your request is pending.” Interest and penalties keep accruing, and the collection period is extended by the time the request was pending plus 60 days (IRC 6015(e)(2)).
• You can go to the Tax Court. Under IRC 6015(e)(1)(A), you may petition after the IRS mails its final determination or after 6 months pass with none, and no later than 90 days after the final determination is mailed.

Injured spouse is different: getting your share of a refund back

Injured spouse relief does not touch a joint tax balance. It applies when you filed a joint return, the refund was taken for your spouse’s separate past-due obligations (child support, federal agency obligations, state income tax or state unemployment compensation), and you were not responsible for them. You ask for your share on Form 8379, either with the joint return or on its own after the offset notice, and you file a new form for each year. The deadline is 3 years from the filing date of the return or 2 years from when the tax was paid, whichever is later. The IRS says it can take up to 8 weeks to process Form 8379 filed by itself, and longer when filed with a return.

Non-tax offsets are run by the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. If you are not sure which agency took a refund, the IRS directs people to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service at 800-304-3107. If the refund was applied to a joint federal tax balance instead, Form 8379 is the wrong form; that is a Form 8857 question.

Before the divorce is final and the years after

A few decisions around the divorce shape how exposed you are to a former spouse’s taxes later:

1. Get the facts on every joint year. Download account transcripts from your IRS Online Account so you know what is owed, for which years, and whether a payment plan is in place.
2. Know your filing status for the year. Publication 504 says filing status “depends partly on your marital status on the last day of your tax year.” If you are still married on December 31, you choose between a joint and a separate return, and some separated parents may be “considered unmarried” and file as head of household.
3. Weigh filing separately. Joint and several liability only arises on a joint return. Filing separately keeps any new balance apart, though it often raises a couple’s combined tax, so compare both.
4. Watch community property rules. In Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, community income is generally split between spouses until the community ends. Publication 555 says an absolute decree of divorce or annulment ends it in all community property states.
5. Deal with any joint payment plan. Contact the IRS rather than assuming your former spouse will keep paying; a missed payment can put the plan in default.
6. Keep your address current with the IRS so notices about joint years reach you before deadlines pass.

If your former spouse files bankruptcy, the joint balance does not disappear for you; see can bankruptcy wipe out IRS taxes. If you need collection paused while you sort this out, see how to pause IRS collection.

Many people file Form 8857 on their own. Free help is available from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (877-777-4778 (IRS.gov, 2026)) when an IRS problem is causing hardship, and from Low Income Taxpayer Clinics for eligible taxpayers. Representation is most useful when the facts are disputed, a Tax Court petition may be needed, or relief has to be coordinated with a payment plan or offer. Global Gate Tax Relief offers a free consultation and quotes a flat fee upfront if it takes the case, with no promises about results. Start a free case review or call 1-877-800-8180.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading in the Tax Liability Guide

• Fresh Start for married couplesJoint balances, the three types of spouse relief and Form 8857 step by step.
• Dispute an IRS balanceWhat to do when you think the amount itself is wrong.
• How to pause IRS collectionEvery legal way to put collection on hold.
• IRS payment plans comparedOptions for paying your own share over time.
• Can bankruptcy wipe out IRS taxes?What a former spouse's bankruptcy can and can't do.