Critical Case Comment–IRS and the “Innocent Spouse”

Bankruptcy courts lack jurisdiction to apply “innocent spouse” relief to determine the amount of a tax claim to be paid in a Chapter 13 case.  (Taddonio) In re Geary, 2023 WL 2996720 (Bankr. W.D. Pa. April 19, 2023)

Case Summary

When a taxpayer signs a joint tax return with their spouse, the Internal Revenue Code is very clear.  Both signatories to the return are personally and severally liable for the taxes due. 

This joint and several liability has historically led to situations where one spouse (“innocent spouse . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

Copy of Hildebrand-2016
Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville)

Henry E. Hildebrand, III has served as Standing Trustee for Chapter 13 matters in the Middle District of Tennessee since 1982 and as Standing Chapter 12 Trustee for that district since 1986. He also is of counsel to the Nashville law firm of Belcher Sykes Harrington, PLLC. Mr. Hildebrand graduated from Vanderbilt University and received his J.D. from the National Law Center of George Washington University. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and the Nashville Bar Foundation. He is Board Certified in consumer bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification and serves on its faculty committee. He is Chairman of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee for the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT). He is on the Board of Directors for the NACTT Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, Inc. and is an adjunct faculty member for the Nashville School of Law and St. Johns University School of Law. In addition, he served as a commissioner to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy.

Related Articles

February 10, 2019
Jan M. Sensenich graduated from Windham College in Putney, Vermont in 1978 and Vermont Law School in 1983. He served as Core Faculty Member and Director of the Woodbury College Legal Clinic from 1983 to 1987and from 1990 to 1992. Jan was an Associate with Jerome I. Meyers, P.C. from 1987 to 1990 when he opened his own practice concentrating...
districtsc
May 28, 2023
Retirement of Judge David Robert Duncan
May 5, 2019
By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Section I. Student Loans, Part II – Suggested Regulatory and Judicial Changes In our last installment of the Academy Report on the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy we dealt with the ABI Commission’s suggested statutory modifications which could address some of the problems facing borrowers confronted with substantial student...
Members
October 11, 2020
By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Once again, I sat in a 341 meeting where the trustee’s representative purported to deliver vital information to the assembled debtors. She had a captive audience of anxious listeners. She had ostensible power of life and death over their financial future. They needed to know what she had to say. But as communication,...
Members
March 15, 2020
By Professor Nancy Rapoport, University of Nevada Dear Readers: The marvelous, indefatigable Regina Logsdon just forwarded me this hypothetical: Post-confirmation, debtor/client gets upset with attorney. Let’s assume for this scenario that the attorney hasn’t done anything wrong – perhaps just a difference of opinion on a plan modification (or not). Debtor/client says ugly things to attorney – name-calling, etc. THEN...
Members
June 28, 2020
By Anthony J. Gomez, CPA, former extern to the Honorable John P. Gustafson, Northern District of Ohio at Toledo Click here for Part 1 Click here for Part 2 IV. The Hanging Paragraph’s effect on Interest Rates When the hanging paragraph is applicable, creditors are entitled to the full value of their secured claims as . . . It looks...
Members
April 7, 2019
By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction On March 20, 2019, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP1 that actions required by state law in a nonjudicial foreclosure are not regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).2 The decision resolved a split in the circuits. In addition to the...
Members
ahern_larry_regular
February 5, 2023
Introduction This series reviews developments in bankruptcy procedure during 2022. Amendments to 16 rules and one new rule took effect December 1, 2022. Many reflected changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA),1 and have been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect.
Members
ahern_larry_regular
November 6, 2022
Introduction This year sees changes in the Code and numerous new and amended Rules of BankruptcyProcedure that are to be effective December 1. The statutory amendments and the changes in therules that do not relate to cases under subchapter V of Chapter 11 are summarized below. They will be followed, by a digest of other new and amended rule and...
Members
February 2, 2020
By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Punitive damages reduced for FDCPA and RESPA violations. The mortgage servicer violated FDCPA, RESPA and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by treating account as delinquent after Chapter 13 debtor had cured arrears, brought account current and obtained discharge. The servicer mistakenly marked the Chapter 13 case as dismissed rather...
Members