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Innocent Spouse Program
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Spouses who file a joint income tax return are both responsible for the full amount of tax, penalty, and interest owed on their return. In some situations, you may ask the Minnesota Department of Revenue to adjust your state tax liability under the Innocent Spouse Program.
This program may help you avoid additional tax liabilities, penalties, and interest if your spouse or former spouse caused them.
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To qualify, all of these must be true:
- You qualify for relief under section 6015(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.
- The additional tax due resulted from an audit of a joint income tax return.
- The underpayment of tax resulted from your spouse or former spouse's actions.
- You did not know about or benefit from your spouse or former spouse's actions.
You may also qualify if the IRS granted you relief under section 6015(f) of the Internal Revenue Code (only for tax years 2019 and later).
For details, see IRS Publication 971.
Send us a letter asking for relief under the state’s Innocent Spouse Program. You must send us:
- A signed letter stating the tax years you are requesting relief.
- An explanation of how you meet the program requirements.
- A copy of the IRS order (“determination”) granting relief for your federal tax debt, if applicable. The determination must include the IRS provision used to grant the relief.
Mail your request letter to:
Minnesota Department of Revenue
Income Tax and Withholding Division
Mail Station 7701
600 N. Robert St
St. Paul, MN 55146-7701
We may send you a letter requesting more information. If you do not respond, we will close your request and you will both remain liable for the total debt.
Once we receive your request:
1. We will send you a letter confirming we received your request. We will also send your spouse or former spouse a letter notifying them of your request.
2. We will review your request and may contact you for more information.
3. We will send a letter with your application status.
- If you do not qualify, our letter will explain why.
- If you do qualify, our letter will explain how we propose to calculate your share of the amount due.
4. If you agree with the decision, no further action is needed. If you disagree, you must send us documentation to show why the proposed decision is incorrect.
5. If we do not hear from you within 30 days, we will consider your request complete and make our final determination.
Note: Until we complete your request, we will continue applying your tax refunds to the debt.
We will send letters to you and your spouse or former spouse that state the amount you each owe. You are responsible for your assigned portion of the tax debt. We will send you a refund if you overpaid your portion of the debt and are entitled to a refund.
Either of you may appeal to the Minnesota Tax Court if you disagree with our final determination.
Your payments will reduce the amount you owe. If you paid more than you owe, we will send you a refund of any overpayments. We can only refund payments you made within 3 1/2 years of the tax return due date or 1 year from the tax order notice date, whichever is later.
The Innocent Spouse Program only applies to income tax debt. Both spouses are responsible for any Property Tax Refund debt.
Please contact us at 651-556-3003 or 1-800-657-3909 to make payment arrangements for your Property Tax Refund debt.
