Form Injured Spouse Allocation

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Information About the Joint Tax Return for Which This Form Is Filed

Enter the following information exactly as it is shown on the tax return for which you are filing this form.

The spouse’s name and social security number shown first on that tax return must also be shown first below.

First name, initial, and last name shown first on the return

If Injured Spouse,

check here ©

Current home address

Check this box only if you are divorced or separated from the spouse with whom you filed the joint return

and you want your refund issued in your name only 

Were you a resident of a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New

Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin) at any time during the year entered on line 2? 

If “Yes,” which community property state(s)?

Note. Overpayments affected by state community property laws will be allocated by the IRS according to those laws.

8379

Part I

1

Social security number shown first If Injured Spouse,

check here ©

Social security number shown second

City State ZIP code

3

5

6

Yes No

OMB No. 1545-0074

(Rev. December 2007)

Attachment

Sequence No. 104

First name, initial, and last name shown second on the return

Note. If you are filing Form 8379 with your tax return, skip to line 5.

2 Enter the tax year for which you are filing this form (for example, 2006) © ______________

4 Is the address on your joint return different from the address shown above? Yes No

Cat. No. 62474Q

© See instructions.

Part II Allocation Between Spouses of Items on the Joint Tax Return (see instructions)

Income: Wages

All other income

Adjustments to income

Standard deduction or Itemized deductions

Number of exemptions

Credits (do not include any earned income credit)

Other taxes

Federal income tax withheld

7 a.

b.

9

11

12

13

14

Allocated Items (a) Amount shown

on joint return

(b) Allocated to

injured spouse

(c) Allocated to

other spouse

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this form and any accompanying schedules or statements and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they

are true, correct, and complete. Declaration of preparer (other than taxpayer) is based on all information of which preparer has any knowledge.

Keep a copy of

this form for

your records

Injured spouse’s signature

Date

Phone number (optional)

Check if

self-employed

Preparer’s

signature

Firm’s name (or yours

if self-employed),

address, and ZIP code

Paid

Preparer’s

Use Only

( )

Preparer’s SSN or PTIN ©

© EIN

Phone no.

Part III Signature. Complete this part only if you are filing Form 8379 by itself and not with your tax return.

Date

8

10

Form 8379 (Rev. 12-2007)

( )

Payments

For Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 3.
Form 8379 (Rev. 12-2007) Page 2

General Instructions

Purpose of Form

Form 8379 is filed by one spouse (the injured spouse) on a

jointly filed tax return when the joint overpayment was (or is

expected to be) applied (offset) to a past-due obligation of the

other spouse. By filing Form 8379, the injured spouse may be

able to get back his or her share of the joint refund.

Are You an Injured Spouse?

You may be an injured spouse if you file a joint tax return and

all or part of your portion of the overpayment was, or is

expected to be, applied (offset) to your spouse’s legally

enforceable past-due federal tax, state income tax, child or

spousal support, or a federal nontax debt, such as a student

loan.

Note. If your residence was in a community property state

(discussed later) at any time during the tax year, you may file

Form 8379 even if only item (1) above applies.

Innocent Spouse Relief

Do not file Form 8379 if you are claiming innocent spouse

relief. Instead, file Form 8857. An innocent spouse is

someone who believes a joint federal tax liability should be

paid solely by his or her spouse. You may qualify for relief

from liability for tax on a joint return if (a) there is an

understatement of tax because your spouse omitted income

or claimed false deductions or credits, (b) you are divorced,

separated, or no longer living with your spouse, or (c) given

all the facts and circumstances, it would not be fair to hold

you liable for the tax. See Pub. 971 for more details.

You should complete and file Form 8379 if both of the

following apply and you want your share of the overpayment

shown on your joint tax return refunded to you.

2. You made and reported payments, such as federal

income tax withheld from your wages or estimated tax

payments, or you claimed a refundable tax credit, such as

the earned income credit or additional child tax credit.

1. You are not legally obligated to pay the past-due

amount.

When To File

File Form 8379 when you become aware that all or part of

your share of an overpayment was, or is expected to be,

applied (offset) against your spouse’s legally enforceable

past-due obligations. You must file Form 8379 for each year

you meet this condition and want your portion of any offset

refunded.

See the chart below to determine where to file your Form

8379.

How To File

If you file Form 8379 with your joint return, attach it to your

return in the order of the attachment sequence number

(located in the upper right corner of the tax form). Enter

“Injured Spouse” in the upper left corner of page 1 of the joint

return.

Amending Your Tax Return

If you file an amended joint tax return (Form 1040X) to claim

an additional refund and you do not want your portion of the

overpayment to be applied (offset) against your spouse’s

legally enforceable past-due obligation(s), then you will need

to complete and attach another Form 8379 to allocate the

additional refund.

Time Needed To Process Form 8379

Generally, if you file Form 8379 with a joint return on paper,

the time needed to process it is about 14 weeks (11 weeks if

filed electronically). If you file Form 8379 by itself after a joint

return has been processed, the time needed is about 8 weeks.

Specific Instructions

If you file Form 8379 separately, please be sure to attach a

copy of all Forms W-2 and W-2G for both spouses, and any

Forms 1099 showing federal income tax withholding, to Form

8379. The processing of Form 8379 may be delayed if these

forms are not attached, or if the form is incomplete when filed.

Where To File

Part I

Line 6. If you live in a community property state, special rules

will apply to the calculation of your injured spouse refund.

Community property states are: Arizona, California, Idaho,

Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington, and

Wisconsin.

Generally, income, deductions, credits, and expenses are

allocated 50/50 between spouses who live in a community

property state. Overpayments are considered joint property

and are generally applied (offset) to legally owed past-due

obligations of either spouse. However, there are exceptions.

The IRS will use each state’s rules to determine the amount, if

any, that would be refundable to the injured spouse. Under

state community property laws, 50% of a joint overpayment

(except the earned income credit) is applied to non-federal tax

debts such as child or spousal support, student loans, or state

income tax. However, state laws differ on the amount of a joint

overpayment that can be applied to a federal tax debt. The

earned income credit is allocated to each spouse based on

each spouse’s earned income. For more information about

community property, see Pub. 555.

You can file Form 8379 with your joint tax return or amended

joint tax return (Form 1040X), or you can file it afterwards by

itself. File Form 8379 with Form 1040X only if you are

amending your original return to claim a joint refund.

A Notice of Offset for federal tax debts is issued by the

IRS. A Notice of Offset for past-due state income tax, child

or spousal support, or federal nontax debts (such as a

student loan) is issued by the U.S. Treasury Department’s

Financial Management Service (FMS).

IF you file Form 8379... THEN mail Form 8379...

with your joint return

by itself after you filed your

original joint return on paper

by itself after you filed your

original joint return electronically

and your joint return to the Internal

Revenue Service Center for the area where

you live.*

to the same Internal Revenue Service

Center where you filed your original return.*

to the Internal Revenue Service Center for

the area where you live.*

*See your tax return instructions for the mailing address.

with an amended return (Form

1040X) or other subsequent

return

to the Internal Revenue Service Center for

the area where you live.*

TIP

Visit www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203.html and

www.fms.treas.gov/faq/offsets.html, for more

information about refund offsets and debts.

To determine if a debt is owed (other than past-due

federal tax), and whether an offset will occur,

contact the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial

Management Service (FMS) at 1-800-304-3107 (for

TTY/TDD help, call 1-866-297-0517).

TIP
Form 8379 (Rev. 12-2007) Page 3

Line 12. Allocate self-employment tax to the spouse who

earned the self-employment income.

Line 13. Enter federal income tax withheld from each

spouse’s income as shown on Forms W-2, W-2G, and 1099.

Be sure to attach copies of these forms to your tax return or

to Form 8379 if you are filing it by itself. Also include on this

line any excess social security or tier 1 RRTA tax withheld.

Line 14. You can allocate joint estimated tax payments in

any way you choose as long as both you and your spouse

agree. If you cannot agree, the estimated tax payments will

be allocated according to the following formula:

How To Avoid Common Mistakes

Mistakes may delay your refund or result in notices being

sent to you.

● Make sure to enclose copies of all Forms W-2 and W-2G

for both spouses, and any Forms 1099 showing income tax

withheld, to prevent a delay in processing your allocation.

● Enter “Injured Spouse” in the upper left corner of page 1 of

your joint return.

● Any dependency exemptions must be entered in whole

numbers. Do not use fractions.

● Make sure the debt is subject to offset (for example, a

legally enforceable past-due federal tax, state income tax,

child or spousal support, or other federal nontax debt such

as a student loan).

Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. Our

legal right to ask for the information on this form is Internal

Revenue Code sections 6001, 6011, 6109, and 6402 and

their regulations. You are required to provide the information

requested on this form only if you wish to have an

overpayment of taxes from a joint return allocated between

you and your spouse. We need it to ensure that you are

allocating items correctly and to allow us to figure the correct

amount of your refund. If you do not provide this information,

we may be unable to process your allocation request.

Providing false information may subject you to penalties. We

may disclose this information to the Department of Justice

for civil and criminal litigation, and to cities, states, and the

District of Columbia for use in administering their tax laws.

We may also disclose this information to other countries

under a tax treaty, to federal and state agencies to enforce

federal nontax criminal laws, or to federal law enforcement

and intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.

You are not required to provide the information requested

on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act

unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books

or records relating to a form or its instructions must be

retained as long as their contents may become material in

the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax

returns and return information are confidential, as required by

Code section 6103.

The average time and expenses required to complete and

file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances.

For the estimated averages, see the instructions for your

income tax return.

If you have suggestions for making this form simpler, we

would be happy to hear from you. See the instructions for

your income tax return.

Line 11. Allocate any child tax credit, child and dependent

care credit, and additional child tax credit to the spouse who

was allocated the qualifying child’s exemption. Do not include

any earned income credit here; the IRS will allocate it based

on each spouse’s income. Allocate business credits based on

Line 8. Enter each spouse’s separate adjustments, such as

an IRA deduction. Allocate other adjustments as you

determine.

If you itemize your deductions, enter each spouse’s

separate deductions, such as employee business expenses.

Allocate other deductions as you determine.

Line 10. Allocate the exemptions claimed on the joint return

to the spouse who would have claimed them if separate

returns had been filed. Enter whole numbers only. For

example, you cannot allocate 3 exemptions by giving 1.5

exemptions to each spouse.

Line 9. If you used the standard deduction on your joint tax

return, enter in both columns (b) and (c) one-half of the basic

standard deduction shown in column (a).

However, if you figured your standard deduction using the

standard deduction chart for people age 65 or older or blind in

the Form 1040 or 1040A instructions, enter your total standard

deduction on line 9, column (a). Allocate your basic standard

deduction as explained earlier. Your basic standard deduction

is as follows: 2004—$9,700; 2005—$10,000; 2006—$10,300;

2007—$10,700; 2008—$10,900. Then use the following

worksheet to allocate the additional standard deduction (the

difference between the total standard deduction and the basic

standard deduction).

1. Enter here the total number of boxes checked 

for age or blindness for yourself at the top

of page 2 of Form 1040 or 1040A 

2. Enter the additional standard deduction for

the year as shown below 

2004 $950

2005 $1,000

2006 $1,000

2007 $1,050

2008 $1,050

3. Multiply line 2 by line 1. Include this amount

on line 9, column (b) 

4. Enter here the total number of boxes checked 

for age or blindness for your spouse at the

top of page 2 of Form 1040 or 1040A 

5. Multiply line 4 by line 2. Include this amount

on line 9, column (c) 

● Items of income, expenses, credits and deductions must

be allocated to the spouse who would have entered the item

on his or her separate return.

Line 7b. Identify the type and amount. Allocate joint income,

such as interest earned on a joint bank account, as you

determine. Be sure to allocate all income shown on the joint

return.

The IRS will figure the amount of any refund due the injured

spouse.

Other items that may not clearly belong to either spouse (for

example, a penalty on early withdrawal of savings from a joint

bank account), would be equally divided. Special rules apply

to couples living in community property states (see above).

Line 7a. Enter only Form W-2 income on this line. Enter the

separate income that each spouse earned.

each spouse’s interest in the business. Allocate any other

credits as you determine.

Part II

To properly determine the amount of tax owed and

overpayment due to each spouse, an allocation must be made

as if each spouse filed a separate tax return instead of a joint

tax return. So, each spouse must allocate his or her separate

wages, self-employment income and expenses (and

self-employment tax), and credits such as education credits,

to the spouse who would have shown the item(s) on his or her

separate return.

Each spouse’s separate tax liability

Both separate tax liabilities x Estimated tax payments

Allocate each spouse’s separate estimated tax payments to

the spouse who made them.