Legal Question in Tax Law in Texas

Re: Responsible for tax debt

The short answer is "no, you will not be responsible for his previous tax debts," and that is the case even if after you are married you choose to file tax returns "married filing jointly." However, your income, and the assets you bring to the marriage or which the two of you accumulate during the marriage as a result of your combined incomes, does complicate his ability to resolve his pre-existing tax debts through an offer in compromise or even an installment agreement. The reasons is that IRS evaluates "ability to pay" on a family basis, even where only one spouse is liable for the tax. Resolving his tax debts takes careful thought and planning, and it may be that the pending marriage could motivate him to address this problem so that it will no longer be a concern for you, as it obviously is at the present time (and rightly so). For more information about the options available, you may want to read some of the articles on my firm's website www.bjhaynes.com. You will find information there about installment agreements, offers in compromise, or even discharging income tax debts in bankruptcy. Good luck, and let us know if we can help. B.J. Haynes

Re: Responsible for tax debt

He should get it taken care of before you marry for many reasons (though there may some reasons to marry first, depending on the facts.

Joel Selik

WWW.TAXWORKOUT.COM

800-894-2889