Internal Revenue Service extends deadline for abused innocent spouses to apply for relief from 2 years to 10 years

Internal Revenue Service extends deadline for abused innocent spouses to apply for relief from 2 years to 10 years

 

To help victims of domestic violence and others, the Internal Revenue Service has proposed rules to extend from 2 years to 10 years, the amount of time taxpayers can apply for "innocent spouse" relief.

Every year approximately 50,000 people apply for innocent spouse relief and some of them are involved in domestic disputes or physical abuse.

IRS said it would stop enforcing a two-year deadline to file an innocent spouse relief application in 2011. The recent proposal would make the 10-year deadline permanent in law.

The proposed rules also stop the IRS from demanding unpaid taxes while the innocent spouse application is being processed.