Innocent Spouse Relief Attorney in South Carolina

When you sign a joint tax return, you and your spouse each become responsible for the full tax on that return, even after a divorce. Innocent spouse relief lets a person ask the IRS to remove some or all of that liability when the tax problem belongs to the other spouse. South Carolina Tax Law Firm PA helps people across South Carolina request innocent spouse relief, respond to the IRS, and appeal or take the case to the U.S. Tax Court when relief is denied.

Call (803) 753-7376 or request a consultation. If you received an IRS letter about a joint return, have it in front of you. Some deadlines run from the date on the letter, and others from the IRS’s first collection action against you.

Why a joint return can leave you owing your spouse’s tax

Federal law makes both spouses on a joint return jointly and severally liable for the tax, interest, and penalties (IRC 6013(d)(3)). That means the IRS can collect the entire balance from either spouse. Common situations include unreported income from a spouse’s business or side work, inflated deductions the other spouse prepared, and a balance due that a spouse promised to pay but did not. A divorce decree that assigns the tax debt to your former spouse does not bind the IRS, although it can matter in an innocent spouse request.

The three types of relief

All three are requested on IRS Form 8857, and the IRS considers each one you may qualify for.

• Innocent spouse relief (IRC 6015(b)). Relief from extra tax caused by your spouse’s errors on the return, such as unreported income or improper deductions, when you did not know and had no reason to know about the understatement and it would be unfair to hold you liable.
• Separation of liability (IRC 6015(c)). For people who are divorced, legally separated, widowed, or have not lived in the same household as the other spouse for the 12 months before the request. The understated tax is divided between the spouses as if they had filed separately. Relief is not available for an item you actually knew about, and the IRS has to prove that knowledge.
• Equitable relief (IRC 6015(f)). The only option for tax that was correctly reported but not paid, and a fallback when the other two do not apply. The IRS weighs all the facts and circumstances.

What the IRS looks at

For equitable relief, and in practice for most requests, the IRS considers factors set out in Revenue Procedure 2013-34, including:

• Whether you are still married or living with the other spouse
• Whether paying the tax would cause you economic hardship
• What you knew or had reason to know about the return or the unpaid balance
• Whether a divorce decree or separation agreement makes the other spouse responsible for the tax
• Whether you received a significant benefit from the unpaid tax beyond normal support
• Whether you have filed and paid your own taxes since then
• Your mental and physical health when the return was filed and now

Abuse or financial control by the other spouse is taken seriously. It can outweigh the fact that you knew about a problem if you could not challenge the return or the payments without fear of retaliation. Records, statements from others, and protective orders can help show this.

Deadlines for requesting relief

• Innocent spouse relief and separation of liability: generally no later than two years after the IRS first takes collection activity against you, such as a levy notice or offsetting your refund.
• Equitable relief: generally while the IRS can still collect the tax (usually 10 years from assessment), or, if you want money back, within the time allowed for a refund claim.

Waiting can also cost you options. Payments the IRS has already taken may not all be refundable, and the two-year clock on the first two types of relief keeps running.

What happens after you file Form 8857

1. The IRS notifies the other spouse. The law requires the IRS to tell your current or former spouse about the request and let them respond. The IRS does not share your new address or other contact details.
2. Collection generally pauses. While a timely request is pending, the IRS generally cannot levy to collect the tax at issue, and the time it has to collect is extended.
3. Preliminary determination. The IRS sends a letter granting or denying relief in whole or in part. You can appeal it to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, usually within 30 days.
4. Final determination. After any appeal, the IRS issues a final determination letter.
5. Tax Court. You can petition the U.S. Tax Court within 90 days of the final determination letter, or once six months have passed with no determination (IRC 6015(e)). The court generally reviews the case using the administrative record plus newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence, which is why building a complete record with the IRS matters.

How we handle an innocent spouse case, step by step

1. Review the account. We file a power of attorney (Form 2848) and pull the transcripts for each joint year to see what is owed, why, and what collection has already happened.
2. Identify the right type of relief. We match each year and each item to innocent spouse relief, separation of liability, or equitable relief, and check the deadlines.
3. Build the record. We gather divorce papers, financial records, and statements that show what you knew, who controlled the money, and how the tax arose.
4. Prepare and file Form 8857. We prepare the form and a written statement of the facts, and respond to IRS questions.
5. Appeal if needed. If the preliminary determination denies relief, we appeal to IRS Appeals, and if needed file a petition in the U.S. Tax Court.
6. Handle what remains. If part of the tax is still yours, we work on the rest through IRS collection options, penalty abatement, or an offer in compromise.

Joint South Carolina returns

A joint South Carolina income tax return also makes both spouses responsible for the state tax. Federal relief does not automatically carry over to your state account. To ask for relief from a joint South Carolina liability, you file Form SC8857 with the South Carolina Department of Revenue, which reviews the request under its own process. When the IRS changes a joint federal return, the state often follows with its own assessment, so we usually file the federal and state requests together. Our SCDOR collections page explains the state side.

Attorney experience

The firm is led by attorney Daniel P. Knudsen, who has represented taxpayers in tax controversies for more than 10 years, including litigation before the U.S. Tax Court. Before entering private practice, Daniel represented taxpayers before the IRS at a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic funded through the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service grant program, and worked in the Executive Division of a state department of revenue.

Daniel holds an LL.M. in Taxation and certificates in International Taxation and State and Local Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, and completed the Tax Litigation Training Program, a professional certificate program, at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Every innocent spouse case is handled by an attorney from the first review through final resolution.

Innocent spouse help throughout South Carolina

Our office is in Spartanburg, and we help people seeking relief from joint tax liability throughout South Carolina, including Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Rock Hill. Most of the work is handled by phone, mail, and secure video, so you do not need to live near our office.

Innocent spouse relief questions

My divorce decree says my ex pays the taxes. Why is the IRS coming after me?

The IRS is not a party to your divorce, so the decree does not change what you owe the IRS on a joint return. The decree can still help an innocent spouse request, and it may give you a claim against your former spouse in family court.

Can I still get relief if I am still married?

Yes. Innocent spouse relief and equitable relief are available to married people. Separation of liability requires that you be divorced, legally separated, widowed, or living apart for the past 12 months.

What is the difference between innocent spouse and injured spouse?

An injured spouse claim (Form 8379) asks for your share of a joint refund back when the IRS applied it to your spouse’s separate debt, such as past-due child support or student loans. Innocent spouse relief (Form 8857) asks to be released from tax owed on the joint return itself.

Will my former spouse find out?

Yes. The IRS must notify the other spouse and give them a chance to take part. It does not give out your new address, phone number, or employer. If safety is a concern, tell us so we can account for it in how the request is prepared.

Can I get back money the IRS already took?

Sometimes. Refunds are available under innocent spouse relief and equitable relief, subject to the refund time limits, but generally not under separation of liability. Payments made with joint funds or by the other spouse are usually not refunded to you.

Related tax controversy services

• IRS appeals, including innocent spouse denials
• U.S. Tax Court litigation
• IRS collections, levies, and liens
• IRS audit defense
• SCDOR collections, liens, and wage garnishment

Talk to a South Carolina innocent spouse attorney

If the IRS is trying to collect tax from a joint return that you believe is your spouse’s or former spouse’s responsibility, call (803) 753-7376 or request a consultation. Tell us the tax years involved and the date on any IRS letter. Please don’t include confidential details in the contact form. Submitting it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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South Carolina Tax Law Firm PA is a private law firm and is not affiliated with the IRS, the South Carolina Department of Revenue, or any government agency. Attorney responsible for this content: Daniel P. Knudsen, 405 S. Pine St., Suite F, Spartanburg, SC 29302. This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and no particular outcome can be promised.

Reviewed by Daniel P. Knudsen, attorney, October 2026.