San Antonio Innocent Spouse Relief Lawyer
Trusted Innocent Spouse Relief Attorney In San Antonio, TX
When a Joint Tax Debt Becomes Your Problem
A divorce is supposed to close out the finances you shared with someone else. An IRS notice tied to a joint return you filed years into that marriage can undo that closure fast, pulling you back into a decision you didn’t make and may never have known about.
Divorce ends the relationship, not the liability.
The IRS can continue collecting from either spouse until the facts are reviewed and a relief request is filed. The outcome depends on the record, including which tax years are involved, how much time has passed since the IRS first acted, and what the paperwork shows about who actually reported what.
David B. Coffin, a San Antonio innocent spouse relief lawyer and former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, spent years representing the IRS in federal court before founding this firm. He now applies that same scrutiny in reverse, preparing Form 8857 requests the way an examiner would actually read them. As a San Antonio tax lawyer and CPA, his practice covers federal tax controversies across Bexar County and Texas.
Tell us what was reported, which tax years are involved, what you knew at the time you signed, and how the balance came about. From there we can talk through whether innocent spouse relief could separate your responsibility from your former spouse’s, and what that would look like in your case.
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Who Qualifies for Innocent Spouse Relief Under IRS Rules
Federal law provides three forms of relief from joint tax liability. The right option depends on the circumstances surrounding the return, your relationship with your spouse, and what you knew or had reason to know when you signed.
Traditional innocent spouse relief may apply when your spouse understated the tax owed and you did not know, and had no reason to know, about the understatement when you signed the return.
Separation of liability relief allocates the understated tax between you and your spouse or former spouse based on the amounts attributable to each of you. This form of relief generally applies when you are divorced, legally separated, or have lived apart from your spouse for the required period.
Equitable relief can address circumstances that do not meet the requirements for the other two forms. It may apply when, for example, you knew about an unpaid tax balance but your spouse controlled the household finances or circumstances made it unreasonable to expect you to challenge the tax at the time.
The IRS looks beyond your explanation. An examiner may consider your access to financial and tax records, your education and business experience, whether you benefited from the unpaid tax, and whether your spouse concealed information or pressured you to sign.
No single factor controls every case, which makes the documentation supporting your request critical.
Common situations that may warrant an innocent spouse analysis include:
- Your spouse failed to report business, investment, or other income that you did not know about.
- Your spouse claimed deductions or credits you did not authorize and did not know were inaccurate.
- You signed a joint return under pressure or without meaningful access to the financial records behind it.
- A tax liability arose from a return filed during the marriage, while your former spouse retained the assets or income connected to the liability.
What an Unresolved Joint Tax Debt Can Cost You in San Antonio
Until the IRS grants relief, both spouses generally remain jointly and severally liable for the full balance. Filing Form 8857 does not automatically eliminate the liability or stop every collection measure.
While your Form 8857 request is pending, the IRS is generally barred from starting a new collection on that liability, though interest and penalties keep accruing. If a levy or garnishment was already underway before you filed, that may need to be addressed separately.
Texas’s community property rules can add another layer to the analysis because they may affect how income should have been reported on a joint return and how the IRS evaluates the underlying liability.
Under 26 U.S.C. § 6015, traditional and separation of liability relief generally must be requested within two years after the IRS begins collection activity against you. Equitable relief is not subject to that same two-year limitation, but other timing requirements still apply, including the IRS’s collection period.
Waiting can make the case harder to prove as records become more difficult to obtain and memories become less reliable.
Innocent spouse relief works applies to federal income tax reported on a jointly filed return. It does not cover every type of tax liability. For example, it generally does not apply to certain employment taxes connected to a jointly operated business, and obtaining relief does not automatically remove an existing lien from jointly owned property.
How Our San Antonio Innocent Spouse Relief Lawyers Build Your Case
The central issue in many innocent spouse cases is what you knew, what you had access to, and when those facts were known. We build the case around that timeline rather than treating Form 8857 as a standard filing.
- We reconstruct the financial history. We examine bank records, tax documents, correspondence, and other evidence showing what information was available to you when the return was prepared and signed.
- We identify the appropriate form of relief. We help determine whether traditional innocent spouse relief, separation of liability, or equitable relief best fits the facts.
- We prepare Form 8857 around the IRS’s evaluation criteria. Your written statement and supporting documentation address the factors an examiner will consider, informed by David Coffin’s experience reviewing tax controversies from within the DOJ Tax Division.
- We handle the spouse notification process. The IRS generally must notify your spouse or former spouse about the request, and we respond to information they provide that could affect your claim.
- We prepare for further review when necessary. If the IRS denies the request or the matter stalls at the administrative level, we can pursue the case in U.S. Tax Court and prepare for trial when appropriate.
Attorney Alejo Pacini, who holds a master’s degree in taxation and has several years of tax controversy experience, often handles day-to-day case work alongside David Coffin.
If the IRS Denies Your Claim: Appeals and Tax Court in San Antonio
An innocent spouse request typically begins with the IRS administrative process. A caseworker reviews the request and supporting materials, and an unfavorable determination can be challenged through the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.
San Antonio taxpayers can also access the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center at 8122 Datapoint Drive, Suite 210, although appointments are required for services involving an open innocent spouse matter rather than a general account inquiry.
If the administrative process does not resolve the dispute, you may have the right to petition the United States Tax Court. The Tax Court is independent of the IRS and regularly holds trial sessions in San Antonio, typically at the city’s federal courthouse, the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and United States Courthouse at 615 East Houston Street.
A denial from the IRS does not necessarily end the matter. A Tax Court petition gives you an opportunity to present the facts and legal basis for relief before a judge. Many Tax Court cases resolve before trial after both sides exchange information, making the petition an important part of moving a disputed claim forward.
Innocent Spouse Relief Questions From San Antonio Taxpayers
What happens after I file Form 8857 for innocent spouse relief?
The IRS assigns the request to a caseworker who reviews the return, financial records, and information submitted with Form 8857. The IRS is generally required to notify your spouse or former spouse, who can participate by providing information relevant to the claim.
The IRS issues a preliminary determination and gives the parties an opportunity to respond before reaching a final decision. These cases can take several months, and the timeline may extend when a former spouse contests the request or the IRS needs additional documentation.
Am I still liable if we are divorced and the tax debt is from a return we filed while married?
Yes, unless the IRS grants relief or another legal basis removes the liability. A divorce decree can assign responsibility for a tax debt between former spouses, but the IRS was not a party to that agreement. The IRS can generally continue pursuing either spouse for the balance on a joint return.
That is why a divorce order and an innocent spouse claim serve different purposes. One allocates responsibility between former spouses. The other seeks relief from the IRS itself.
The IRS already started garnishing my wages. Can innocent spouse relief stop that?
Filing Form 8857 can affect IRS collection activity on the liability under review, but it does not automatically undo every collection action already taken. If a levy or garnishment is already in place, additional steps may be necessary.
The timing matters. The sooner we can review the return, collection history, and facts surrounding your request, the sooner we can determine what relief may be available and what needs to happen next.
(Attorney David B. Coffin is licensed under State Bar of Texas No. 24010807.)
Talk to a San Antonio Innocent Spouse Relief Lawyer
A joint tax balance does not go away just because the marriage that created it did.
IRS notices can keep arriving years later, often tied to income or reporting errors you never saw and had no real way to catch when you signed.
Relief exists for taxpayers who meet the requirements, and finding out where you stand starts with the record rather than guesswork, including what the return actually said, what you knew at the time, and how much time has passed since the IRS first acted.
David Coffin PLLC represents taxpayers throughout San Antonio and Bexar County in innocent spouse matters, from the initial Form 8857 request through IRS Appeals and Tax Court litigation when necessary.
Reach out today to schedule a consultation. Bring us the return, the notices, and the timeline, and we can help you understand where you stand and what it would take to separate you from a debt that was never really yours.
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