My wife's student loans are in default and as a result she never gets to keep any of her return. So if we filed jointly would they be able to keep the entirety of our return.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The IRS would keep the entire refund unless you claimed an "innocent spouse" protection on the part of the refund that is attributed to your share.
Spouses filing jointly in situations where only one spouse is a debtor whose refunds may be grabbed to satisfy the debt of the other spouse can file a form called an "injured spouse" allocation form. Then, any part of the refund attributable to the non-debtor spouse's earnings and withholdings will be refunded. IRS Form 8379 is the tax form, in Illinois refer to IL-8857. Do not confuse injured spouse with "innocent spouse", you're looking for the injured spouse procedures and forms.
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