The Internal Revenue Service has
proposed to extend for up to 10 years the amount of time that taxpayers would
have to apply for the “innocent spouse” tax relief program.
The IRS issued REG-132251-11 on Monday, which proposes to expand
from two to 10 years the amount of time that taxpayers could apply for innocent
spouse relief so they are no longer responsible for the tax debts of estranged
spouses. The document contains proposed regulations relating to relief from
joint and several tax liability under Section 6015 of the Tax Code and relief
from the federal income tax liability resulting from the operation of state
community property laws under Section 66.
The proposed regulations also
provide guidance to taxpayers on when and how to request relief under Sections
66 and 6015. This document also invites comments from the public regarding
these proposed regulations.
The IRS said in 2011 that it would
no longer require people to apply for innocent spouse relief within two years,
bowing to demands over the years from taxpayers, practitioners, the National
Taxpayer Advocate and members of Congress (see IRS Eliminates 2-Year
Limit on Innocent Spouse Requests).
In 2012, it expanded the relief to a greater number of taxpayers under newly
proposed guidelines (see IRS Expands Innocent
Spouse Relief). The
proposed regulations issued Monday would make the 10-year deadline permanent.
The innocent spouse relief would be retroactive to any requests filed on or
after July 25, 2011.
Under the transitional rules, the
two-year deadline would not apply to any request for equitable relief filed on
or after July 25, 2011 (the date that the IRS issued Notice 2011-70 extending
innocent spouse relief) or any request already filed and pending with the IRS
as of that date. The transitional rules provide that the IRS will consider
these current and future requests for equitable relief if they were filed
within the applicable limitation period under Section 6502 or 6511. As for past
requests for equitable relief—requests that the IRS denied as untimely under
the two-year deadline—the notice allows the individuals who filed those
requests to reapply for equitable relief, unless the individual litigated the
denial or the denial included a determination that the individual was not
entitled to equitable relief on the merits. In addition, Notice 2011-70
provides separate rules for claiming equitable relief with respect to litigated
cases.
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure
Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication
No comments:
Post a Comment