How can they take taxes from you because of your husband?

Answer 1

On the 1040 federal income tax return married filing joint that each taxpayer signs.

Go to the IRS gov website and use the search box for Topic 205 - Innocent Spouse Relief (And Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief)

Both taxpayers are jointly and severally liable for the tax and any additions to tax, interest, or penalties that arise as a result of the joint return even if they later divorce. Joint and several liability means that each taxpayer is legally responsible for the entire liability. Thus, both spouses are generally held responsible for all the tax due even if one spouse earned all the income or claimed improper deductions or credits. This is true even if a divorce decree states that a former spouse will be responsible for any amounts due on previously filed joint returns. In some cases, however, a spouse can get relief from joint and several liability.

There are three types of relief from joint and several liability for spouses who filed joint returns:

1. Innocent Spouse Relief provides you relief from additional tax you owe if your spouse or former spouse failed to report income, reported income improperly or claimed improper deductions or credits.

2. Separation of Liability Relief provides for the allocation of additional tax owed between you and your spouse or former spouse because an item was not reported properly on a joint return. The tax allocated to you is the amount for which you are responsible.

3. Equitable Relief may apply when you do not qualify for innocent spouse relief or separation of liability relief for something not reported properly on a joint return. You may also qualify for equitable relief if the correct amount of tax was reported on your joint return but the tax remains unpaid.

Note: You must request relief no later than 2 years after the date the IRS first attempted to collect the tax from you, regardless of the type of relief you are seeking.

If you lived in a community property state and filed as "married filing separate" rather than "married filing jointly", you might still qualify for relief. Community property states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Refer to Publication 971 for more details.

Relief from joint and several liability should not be confused with an injured spouse claim. You are an "injured spouse" if you file a joint return and all or part of your share of the refund was, or will be, applied against the separate past-due Federal tax, state tax, child support, or Federal non-tax debt (such as a student loan) of your spouse with whom you filed the joint return. If you are an injured spouse, you may be entitled to recoup your share of the refund. For more information, obtain Form 8379 (PDF), Injured Spouse Allocation, or refer to Topic 203, Failure to Pay Child Support, Federal Non-Tax and State Income Tax Obligations.

irs.gov/taxtopics/tc205.html