TAP 04-024

Innocent Spouse — Notification of Non-Requesting Spouse

Statement of Issue:

Many taxpayers who seek “innocent spouse” relief from joint and several tax liability based on a joint tax return are unaware that the law requires the IRS to notify the non-requesting spouse of the request for relief.

Proposal:

Insert in Part 1 of Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, the following sentence in bold lettering under the third line (in lieu of the present bold sentence commencing "If you have been a victim ... retaliation, check here"):
"THE LAW REQUIRES THE IRS TO INFORM YOUR SPOUSE OR FORMER SPOUSE OF THE REQUEST FOR RELIEF FROM LIABILITY See page 2 of the instructions."

Re-insert the sentence regarding the" Victim ... and check box as a new Part VI.

On page 2 of Publication 971, Innocent Spouse Relief, BOLD the entire paragraph captioned “IRS spousal notification.”

10/2004 Sandy McQuin received call from Mary Dowling for additional information 202-927-9894; Mary Ann Delzer left message for Mary Dowling but has not received call back.

The IRS believes this suggestion to mention the spousal notification requirement in Part 1 of Form 8857 has merit and will consider making the change in 2006 when the IRS next plans to revise the form. However, the IRS will not move the domestic violence sentence from Part I to a new Part VI. This is because of a lack of space and because of the interrelationship between the domestic abuse sentence and the spousal notification requirement. IRS will not adopt the suggestion to boldface the entire "IRS spousal notification" paragraph on page 2 of Publication 971. Research has shown that, when too much bold text is used, emphasis loses its impact. For this reason, the IRS is decreasing use of bold text in forms, instructions, and publications. For instance, next year, references to headings within these products will be shown in italics instead of bold.