I married my girlfriend of 5 yrs in Sept 2012. I am a US citizen and she had arrived here in the US from Czech Republic in 2004. We are using an immigration attorney now and in the middle of the process of getting her green card (our appointment with immigration for the interview is in a month). In 2012 she had no income and I had worked full time. We filed taxes as married filing jointly and recieved a CP42 notice from the IRS stating that they are keeping the return because my wife had worked in 2004 as a houskeeper but did not file taxes. She earned about $14000 and was given a 1099 form and apparently never filed. She does have a tax ID #. Now I have the choice of filing an injured spouse form with IRS or re-filing as single. Any ideas on the best way to go with this process?

“Now I have the choice of filing an injured spouse form with IRS or re-filing as single. Any ideas on the best way to go with this process?”============= As long as you have an unpaid tax bill from prior year,2004 , in this case, the IRS can grab your refund for the current year as payment on that outstanding liability. If you're married, then more than likely you file a joint tax return. If you have children or meet certain criteria, you may also be entitled to a sizeable tax credit or tax refund on that joint return.As your spouse owes any past due tax bills, then it is nearly for certain that the IRS will try to intercept and seize that refund since your spouse filing has an unpaid liability. However, if only your spouse owes the liability, you are entitled to your share of the refund based on who contributed what. If the IRS has applied YOUR share of a refund against a liability or bill owed by your spouse, then you are what's termed as an injured spouse and you are entitled to your portion of the tax credit relief money. If the IRS has intercepted your tax refund and applied your refund money towards your spouse's delinquent bills or outstanding liability, or you're in the process of filing your taxes and you are concerned that the IRS may intercept your tax refund money, then you need to obtain tax form 8379, which is the Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation form. The form requests identifying information for you and your spouse, as well as detailed information needed to determine how much of the tax - and refund - has been contributed by and should be paid out to each spouse. The IRS makes the final calculations that divides the refund between you and your spouse and how much each of you paid in via your paychecks or income and how much each of you is entitled BACK in your tax refund. So, as you contributed more than 1/2 of the household's income, then you are entitled to more than half of whatever the total tax refund should have been. If you now realize that you are an injured spouse for a tax return that has already been filed, then you should file form 8379 with the closest IRS Center for where you lived when you filed your tax return. If you're trying to prevent the IRS from seizing a refund on a return that you have yet to file (You have not officially filed yet) then you should attach Tax Form 8379 at the time when you file your taxes. Tax form 8379, the Injured spouse Allocation form can be found at the following: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf You can copy and paste this address into your internet browser to print out the form at home on your printer. It takes about 12 weeks to get your tax refund if filing an injured spouse tax form 8379. For more information, or for more help filling out your tax form 8379, you can contact the IRS toll free at 1-800-829-1040 (expect a wait time!).
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We already filed jointly and then recived the CP42. How about just ameding the return as married filing single? thx

“How about just ameding the return as married filing single? “=======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.SO, You’ll have to mail the Form 8379 with the Form 1040X to the IRS Service Center in the area in which you live.

Someone was telling me they would just amend the tax form to married filing single and not have to to deal with the injured spouse form. Then my spouse would contact the IRS to figure out a payment plan on her own. Would that be feasible?

“Someone was telling me they would just amend the tax form to married filing single “==You mean MFS filing status??/ There is no married filing single status but MFS.
“and not have to to deal with the injured spouse form. Then my spouse would contact the IRS to figure out a payment plan on her own. Would that be feasible?”======== Filing MFS tends to come up with the same totals that filing the injured spouse form does. Thus, you file MFS and the tax returns process in the usual fashion.If you have anything that you can only get on the MFJ return, you need to file MFJ. If you wait until FMS says you aren't flagged, that could take months. If you file MFJ with the injured spouse form, that could take months. It's a no win situation. Normally,as you know,married filing jointly results in lesser tax than filing separate tax returns. Also many credits are not available when you file separate return. Ultimately it is for both of you to decide.You can file as married filing jointly or married filing separately. In most cases, it is better to file as MFJ. If you file Form 8379 , the IRS will allocate the refund between you and your spouse.