Has a former or current spouse created a tax issue that you were not aware of or is not your fault?

Generally, both you and your spouse are responsible, jointly and individually, for paying any tax, interest, or penalties due on your joint return. If you apply for relief within two years of IRS collection activity initiation, in some cases, a spouse (or former spouse) may be relieved of liability on a joint return.

The IRS will require that you prove you had lack of knowledge of erroneous or fraudulent information on a tax return and that it would be unjust to hold both spouses accountable.