A New York taxpayer qualifies as a nonobligated spouse if either of these is true:
- They have income and prepaid taxes (such as withholding or estimated tax payments) to report on a joint return;
- They are going to file a joint return for any refundable credit(s) and want to disclaim their spouse’s defaulted governmental education, state university, or city university loan, past‑due support liability, or past-due legally enforceable debt to a New York State agency, or New York City tax warrant judgment debt because they do not want to apply their part of the joint refund or refundable credit to a debt owed solely by their spouse.
Form IT-280, Nonobligated Spouse Allocation is used to secure the taxpayer's amount of a joint refund from being used to pay a debt owed solely by a spouse. It isn't used to disclaim a spouse’s legally enforceable debt to the IRS or tax liability owed to another state, nor is it used to request innocent spouse relief (Form IT-285).
Form IT-280 isn't used on an amended return to disclaim a spouse's debt. If the taxpayer receives a letter from the DTF informing them that the refund will be applied to their spouse's debt and Form IT-280 wasn't included in their original return, they will then have ten days to submit it separately.
To complete Form IT-280 in the New York individual income tax return in TaxSlayer ProWeb, from the New York Return menu select:
- Miscellaneous Forms
- Nonobligated Spouse Allocation (Form IT-280)
Additional Information: