Frequently Searched

Innocent Spouse Gets Caught in IRS Bureaucracy

October 3, 2024

Emoke Fidele came to the United States from Hungary in 2010 looking for the land of opportunity. Her American dream, however, became a nightmare when she received a bill from the Internal Revenue Service for $271,000 in back taxes that she did not owe. What happened to her is another case of government bureaucracy at its worst and an unjust IRS rule that is long overdue for reform.

Emoke is not wealthy. She earns a modest income as a caregiver to older adults in New York. Emoke did not realize that anyone who files a joint tax return with his or her spouse becomes liable for the spouse’s unpaid taxes, even if their spouse is dead or later gets divorced. Only spouses who can prove their innocence to the IRS can escape the clutches of the federal government.

A spouse’s obligation on a joint tax return dates to a 1938 act of Congress. Under that law, an innocent spouse’s only reprieve was if they could prove they had signed their tax return under duress — a high hurdle.

Read the rest of the op-ed in Washington Times.

Mike Brownfield is communications director at the Goldwater Institute.

 

 

More on this issue

Donate Now

Help all Americans live freer, happier lives. Join the Goldwater Institute as we defend and strengthen freedom in all 50 states.

Donate Now

Since 1988, the Goldwater Institute has been in the liberty business — defending and promoting freedom, and achieving more than 400 victories in all 50 states. Donate today to help support our mission.

We Protect Your Rights

Our attorneys defend individual rights and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Need Help? Submit a case.

Get Connected to Goldwater

Sign up for the latest news, event updates, and more.

Wait! Don’t close this yet!

We are grateful for your support of the Goldwater Institute’s efforts to advance and defend liberty throughout the United States. For over 36 years, we’ve been defending the rights of Americans to live their lives free from government interference.

And Goldwater is unique in that we direct our efforts to the 50 states where we introduce and advance innovative ideas that expand freedom. And we fight in courtrooms and capitals nationwide to defend individual liberty.

In 2024 alone, we scored over 50 policy and litigation victories defending liberty!

And that’s just the beginning.

Our plans for 2025 include:

  • Stopping pernicious DEI and other woke programs in America’s universities.
  • Ensuring that patients suffering from rare and terminal diseases have access to cutting-edge, lifesaving medical treatments, without having to first seek permission from the government.
  • Defending parental rights across the United States so that parents can send their kids to the school that best fits their needs, free from leftist indoctrination.
  • Eliminating government interference in the fundamental right of individuals to own property and use it as they see fit.
  • And much, much more

We seek to restore the presumption of liberty; that people are free to act without first asking permission from the government.

But we cannot do this without you. Will you join us as we fight to preserve and advance liberty throughout the country? As we seek new and innovative ways to defend freedom in all 50 states?

And there’s great news: Thanks to a generous Goldwater supporter, your donation today will be doubled!

So please, join us in fighting to advance liberty and score real wins for freedom from coast to coast!