IRS Form 8379: Form 8379: Injured Spouse Allocation

A tax form distributed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and used by an injured spouse on a joint tax return when seeking to apply an overpayment in taxes to a past tax obligation. If the IRS has taken your share of a refund to pay for a liability owed by your spouse, you are an injured spouse. Filing Form 8379 may result in the injured spouse receiving a part of the refund back.

Form 8379 should not be used if the taxpayer is seeking innocent spouse relief.

An injured spouse can seek to have a refund of overpaid federal taxes, state taxes, alimony, child support or non-tax debt, such as a student loan. Typically, spouses are jointly responsible for a tax obligation, so an injured spouse should file Form 8379 as soon as he or she recognizes that a refund will be applied to a spouse's previous obligation.