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Can the IRS use one spouse's pre-marital property to pay the other's pre-marital debt?
Anonymous2 views2 answers
In 2008, H incurred $10k tax liability & entered into a repayment agreement w/ the IRS.
Autumn 2009, H married W. H worked all year; W worked ONLY before the marriage.
Still, W earned more than H, and on their 2009 taxes (filed jointly), most income & liabilities were attributable to W. Most of the amount withheld was hers, and so most of the anticipated refund was hers, too.
The IRS took H's portion of the refund to repay his 2008 tax debt. The IRS also took W's portion of the refund to pay H's 2008 tax debt.
H's tax debt was pre-marriage. W's earnings were pre-marriage.
Thus, pre-marriage property went to pay for pre-marriage debt. Does filing jointly entitle the IRS to treat it all as community property?
Cites to code sections and cases appreciated. Thank you.
Under California Community property law the community property of one spouse is liable for the premarital debts of the other spouse. Separate property is not liable for either the pre or post marital debts of the other spouse.
The earnings before marriage are separate property; Post marriage earnings are community property.
It may be possible to allocate a portion of the refund as separate property, and part as community property, but I suspect you are going to have a difficult time convincing the IRS.
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Perhaps the better answer is to consult a lawyer familiar with tax collection disputes. You sound like an "innocent spouse" and the IRS has a program recognizing when taxes are incurred by one spouse without the liability of the other, which then results in a decision that its unfair to have the innocent spouse liable for the taxes.
I think this is mostly a tax liaiblity question, not a community property question.
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Good luck. jim
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